Emerald
by WhiteFangofWhoa
Summary: Six years after the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves, the sea of human consciousness grows wild, a tide of chaos threatening to swallow up the recovering world... But at the burgeoning academy of Koashimizu, a band of eight defiant souls seek redemption, and a home they can call their own. Rated for mature situations and violence.
1. Adrift

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _'The greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.'_

* * *

 _PERSONA: EMERALD_

* * *

 _Welcome to where time stands still..._

 _The repeated sensation of a tide lapping over her, then retreating to do it again, wasn't what woke her. That was a familiar, almost comforting sensation. A natural metronome that filled her ears with the gentle crashing of waves, a great giant's breath. One could go to sleep to such a rhythm, and some frequently did. To her, it was more welcome than any lullaby. The sea was where she found peace._

 _The problem was that she couldn't quite remember what had led up to her washing onto this beach. Or where the beach was._

 _Or what her own name was._

 _Slowly, tentative as a sleepy child half-willingly pulling out of a warm bed, she rose from the water. The beach stretched onwards into a cluster of tropical trees, but the way it began to curve at both ends let her know that this island was on the small side of the scale. One could probably walk the entire way around in an hour._

 _She was, most certainly, not in Tosashimizu city any more._

" _You've slept a long while", a sudden voice pulled her head around to the source. "Far past time for you to wake."_

 _She stared, wondering how she'd missed her visitor the first time. The man was tall and lanky with a beard of black hair as wild and unruly as what was top of his skull. Combined with the worn rags he wore, he painted the very picture of an island castaway._

 _Taking a moment to get her bearings revealed that her own garments gave that same impression- a threadbare leather greatcoat and antiquated black breeches. She did have the faint memory of having worn a hat with the getup, but that was nowhere to be seen now._

 _His voice was short and sharp, yet somehow melodious. Like everything else, it was difficult to place at this time, but he didn't seem dangerous, smiling and extending a hand. "Forgive me for not waking you. You looked so comfortable there, and in no danger of drowning until the tide goes out."_

 _She tried approaching and nearly pitched into the sand. As the man helped her up, the error in his words finally clicked, and she forced air back into her lungs to speak. "You mean, when the tide comes in?"_

 _The castaway chuckled warmly. "Not in this place, lass. Here, the danger comes when the tide empties, the sea of souls claiming what it has taken into itself forever after. That's the way of the sea."_

 _His words made no sense. Better to question him further before trusting him implicitly, she reasoned. "Who are you?"_

" _A name, huh..." The man stroked his beard as though the concept of names was a temporary stumper. "I suppose Manan's as good a one as any. What of you, lass? What's your name?"_

 _She turned back to the water to hide from him the way her face fell at the question. "I... I don't know. I don't remember."_

 _Manan sounded apologetic. "That's a hard loss to face. The sea of souls takes away everything if you stay in it long enough. Still... you must remember something of yourself, yes?"_

 _Instinctively reaching up, she found herself touching her hair. Long, silver-gray hair that remained light and easily moved despite being soaked through. It seemed completely unharmed by hours spent in the surf. No... if anything, she remembered now that if anything her hair was enhanced by spending time in water._

 _That memory was the gateway to others, and she sat back on the shore to recollect. Smiling._

 _Certainly, there were many things that hadn't come rushing back, but a lot of things had. "It's been a long, crazy story. You probably won't believe me."_

 _Manan shrugged gamely. "Never know if you don't try. Let's begin with your name, shall we?"_

 _The girl from the sea nodded, more confident now even if she knew there were many, many things yet to be recalled. "Thank you, Manan. My name is..."_

* * *

2023

4/9, Tuesday

Morning

" _Aiko Tsuruga_."

The familiar words brought the light gray-haired girl out of her trance, sitting up in her seat as she remembered all at once where she was and what she was doing. Some of the other students murmured softly to themselves, and the older boy who had called her name smiled. "I'll take that as a yes?"

Embarrassment flooding her cheeks with heat at an amazing rate, Aiko nodded. "Yes. I'm Aiko Tsuruga, first year."

As the amusement quieted, the older boy reached into a brown case and handed her a nondescript-looking key before glancing back at his list. "You've already signed the forms, right? You'll be in room 22 with Mirambela Sorano. Second floor, first door on your left."

 _That's right... yeah, we signed the permission forms, and we're getting paired with roommates now, right?_ Now she remembered. They were all gathered in the big lobby of Koashimizu High School, and that flat-haired boy- a third-year- was giving roommate pairings and keys to each dorm after making sure they had signed the school forms mailed to them weeks prior, which had basically asked for a signature saying that they 'accepted responsibility for their actions'... whatever _that_ meant.

 _Damn it, how could I forget that? The whole time I was hoping for a nice, comfortable dorm that wouldn't make me miss being at home at all. Not that_ that's _a high bar to reach for._ "Uh... sorry, what's your name?"

The older boy frowned. He was a big one, dark hair cut into something only slightly bigger than a flattop, but kind-seeming brown eyes reduced the sting of his disapproval. "I told everyone before, Kohru Tatsunoko. Your memory needs work, Tsuruga-san. I trust you _can_ remember where your room is?"

Instead of good-natured amusement like before, there were hushed whispers this time. The unwelcome kind. One conversation in particular seemed to be taking place directly next to her ear:

"Between her and Sorano, they'll have maybe ten brain cells in that room, tops."

"Hey, they'd forget ten seconds after you paid them a visit. They'd leave the door unlocked."

"Hell no. I'm not interested in any stupid girls even if they are pretty. Besides, if they catch you in the girls' dorm you're toast."

"Ahem", Kohru cleared his throat to mercifully end the whispers. "Moving on then. Noel Vitienne, second-year?"

The name sounded strange to Aiko, then Noel emerged from a crowd of boys to claim his room key and she remembered the most common thing about Koashimizu academy's reputation. Being located practically on the coast of Tosashimizu city near several major ports, it was advertised as a multicultural school specializing in foreign exchange students from all around the world.

Noel Vitienne certainly fit that description in her eyes. He had noticeably fairer skin than everyone else around him and a thick weave of messy golden-blond hair trailing behind him. And... while Aiko preferred to avoid such shallow observations of anyone so early on, there was no denying that this Noel was handsome by every possible definition. The mere shape of his face and gentle almond eyes brought to mind princely heroes from the old stories. Less unique was the way he had that hair tied back into a narrow ponytail behind his head, a fashion which she noticed many of the other male students mirrored.

He also shared in their student uniform. A wide-collared green button blazer with white borders and dark green tie, over top of a white undershirt and dark pants with a single gray line running down both sides. Leaning back in her seat, Aiko touched the circular school symbol sewn into her own school outfit. Similar, yet different. The same colour of blazer for the girls, only with several additional metal buttons replacing the tie, and a lighter green skirt streaked with several gray lines over some long white knee socks. They blended quite well with the interior paint job, which also focused entirely on white, green or gray tones.

Both of the student outfits struck her as fitting the school's 'theme', but overly formal compared to the ones she'd see at other schools, and she saw that many of the students of both genders there had most or all of their buttons left undone at the moment. Today was a hot one indeed. Outside the school, they'd be roasting.

"Room 17", Kohru was telling Noel as he handed the room key over. Aiko had missed the name of his chosen roommate over the whispers. Noel's accented reply, however, couldn't be missed.

"Thank you very much. If you don't mind, Tatsunoko-san, I must ask... has anyone here seen Furusato-chan?"

There were more mutterings, as the statement was loud and clearly directed at everyone, but no one had any real information. Noel seemed to sag, withdrawing to the pack of boys he'd been with before. "Ah, well... I would appreciate if anyone told me of any sight of her. Not showing up on the first day of school is so very unlike her."

Which of course set off an entirely new chorus of whispers focused on this missing Furusato girl, and Kohru had to clear his throat once again to reclaim their attention. The rest of the room assignments went on without any further antics, and Aiko found herself drifting off again until something else caught her attention.

It was another student, a boy who had been hanging back near the stairwell for the entirety of the gathering. Though he was short enough to be a middle-schooler or possibly even younger, he displayed none of the anxiety many of them did, casually leaning against the brickwork with arms folded. A tangled bushel of black hair obscured his face and the sides of his head, but the single blue eye that she could make out had been darting between students at a bizarrely mechanical pace.

Or at least, he had been, until the point where his eyes came to focus entirely on _her_ , and never left. She couldn't help but look back, hoping each time that he had taken his single-minded focus over to someone else. No such luck. It was creepy, and she was on verge of complaining when the room assignments drew to a close.

"That's that", Kohru finished up, closing the case of keys and sounding glad to be done at last. "If you have any issues with your roommates, please report it to the guidance department in their office on the 2nd floor. Don't forget, there will be an assembly in the gym after last period today, and we _will_ be taking attendance, got it?"

Now there were bitter grumbles amidst the idle chat, yet the short boy's eyes never left Aiko. Not when she sat up and headed out of the lobby. Not when she stopped to examine the fountain outside. Not when she turned around and headed for the girls' dorm. Only once she'd actually opened the front door and moved into the 1st floor hallway's line of identical dorm doors she did she finally let go of the breath she'd been holding.

"Wonderful", she half-joked to herself, leaning back against the door. "My first day and I already have a stalker."

* * *

Room 22, presumably, was the same as all the other dorm rooms. A plain affair of soft teal with a single black stripe running along the midsection before being bisected by two tall windows facing west. The ample counter top space near the front door was a pleasant surprise, though any actual cooking or storage of food would have to be done in the lounge area on the 1st floor.

Most important to Aiko, however, was the girl already in the room, her bags lining the left side bed. _This is crucial for my plan. I'm going to be spending nearly a year of my life sharing a room with this girl. Please God, don't let her be a nuisance._

She didn't _look_ like a nuisance. She didn't look stupid, either. Notably taller and more muscular than Aiko with prominent cheekbones and lips, thickly-tied tresses of dark hair trailing behind her like fox tails. Most striking however, was that this girl was obviously an exchange student from either Africa or America- that dark a shade of skin was passing rare in Japan.

What she _did_ look like was sad. She hardly seemed to react as Aiko shut the door behind her. "Mirambela Sorano, I presume?"

"Here", she replied faintly, pretending to be working with her bag zippers. Her voice had very thick consonants, but beyond that her grasp of the language was superb. "You must be Tsuruga-san."

"Speaking", Aiko answered in a voice deliberately made cheerier than she felt. Getting off on the right foot was essential. "Hey, nice you meet you and everything. Do you want any help unpacking?"

"No", the response flew back instantly. It was amended just as quickly. "No... thank you, Tsuruga-san. I appreciate the offer. I'm sure you have a lot to unpack as well, and some of the things in my bags are quite fragile."

Aiko chuckled, whomping down hard on the bed that was apparently destined to be hers. "Not as much as you think." In truth, she only had three bags. One for school supplies, and the others for clothes. In less than an hour's work, it almost felt like a home. Mirambela wasn't even halfway unpacked by that time.

"So", Aiko tried breaking the silence. "You're in second-year, right? They said it was set up like this so the second-years could help the first-years. Any recommendations before first period starts?"

The question gave Mirambela pause, so much that she stopped unpacking and turned around on her bed to face Aiko directly for the first time. Her brown eyes were as pretty as the rest of her, but it was as if they were faded, clouded up by something she couldn't grasp. "I don't know you very well yet, so I can't make many suggestions... just one. Without meaning to be rude, Tsuruga-san... stay away from me."

Delivered more briskly, that would indeed have seemed quite rude. Instead, so calmly delivered, it seemed as pained as the rest of Mirambela's being. "E-excuse me? Stay away from you?"

Mirambela nodded. "Yes. My... You look like you're very eager to go make some new friends here, but it would be best for you to stay away from all of the exchange students. Aside from your hair, you look and talk like you're a native Japanese, so you'll be fine. Go. Make some friends."

Aiko leaned back on her new bed, still trying to process the girl's bizarre instructions. "Okay, first... yes, guilty as charged, on both counts. My home situation is, well... not the greatest. I want a better home. I want to create a new home for myself, right here at Koashimizu high school. I did it in middle school. No reason why I can't do the same here, right?"

"No reason", Mirambela agreed passively. "Just so long as you know who to avoid."

"Which brings us to the second part", Aiko continued. "Mirambela... can I call you Mira-senpai?"

"You may", Mira conceded politely. "But-"

"Thanks. Why do I need to stay away from you? We won't even be in the same classes."

Mira froze, glancing out the window in shame. "Actually, Tsuruga-san, we will. I am a second-year, but I will be taking first-year classes. I was... held back."

That rocked her. _Held back?_ She didn't even know such a thing was possible. Knowing she had to consider her next words very carefully, Aiko sat up. "...Why?"

Mira shook her head. "Isn't it obvious? My grades were too low. The second-year's content is meant to build off the first year, which I had failed to learn. There was no point in trying to learn more advanced material until I improved my grades in the first year."

Aiko fought down the urge to whistle, or make any other kind of reaction that might be mistaken as mockery. Being held back was normally the direst of punishments, reserved for delinquents who skipped too many classes or were suspended often. Mira did not look even remotely stupid, and surely she understood as well as any other student the importance of keeping her grades at an acceptable level at school. _There must be more to this. That last line sounded like she was quoting it from a teacher._

"But", Mira went on, tears straining at the edge of her vision now. "That is not the reason I ask you to stay away, Tsuruga-san. Being roommates is bad enough, but if the other girls here learn that you are friends with me... they will make you regret it. If they ask you what it's like to be roommates with me, make a joke about how I am stupid, okay? They will embrace you as one of them then, and you will have many friends as you want."

Now Aiko had to stop herself from laughing. She had to think a long time to come up with something she'd heard that was more ridiculous than Mira's words, and longer still to decide on a proper response. "If they're only going to be friends with me because I make fun of you, then maybe I don't want them as friends, Mira-senpai."

"Then you will have no one", Mira argued, personal experience lending a terrible certainty to her claims. "You will ostracized and mocked as I am. There's already rumours creeping around the school that my new roommate is as stupid as me. Please... this is my best advice for you, Tsuruga-san. Keep your head down, and stay far away from the exchange students, especially when Kujou-senpai is near."

Aiko blinked in doubt. _The fear in her voice at that name... just how bad_ is _this Kujou?_

"I'm not stupid, Mira-senpai. I know what you're talking about. I saw it in middle school too, just none of it directed at me. I'll watch out for Kujou like you said..."

Instinctively she rose, using one firm hand to lift the stricken girl's head back up by the chin. "But if anyone starts bothering you, then I can't promise I'll sit still. I can't make a good home out of a place where things like that are allowed to happen. Let's... let's just think positive, okay Mira-senpai?"

That seemed to cheer her up a little, but only a little. "Try to keep your promise", she advised the younger girl. "You still don't understand, Tsuruga-san... for us, this school is hell. Try to help us, and you'll burn in that hell too."

Aiko gave a hard smile back, hoping it would be contagious.

"You know, Mira-senpai... There's a line I once read about preferring that choice over serving in heaven. I don't need Koashimizu academy to be a heaven. I just want a place I can call my _home_."

* * *

4/9 Tuesday

Afternoon

Her stalker couldn't find her until the last period. It almost came as a pleasant surprise after sitting through the introductory classes. As promised, Mira was right there with all the first-years. As promised, Aiko had staked her claim at a desk directly across the classroom from her... but that didn't stop her from looking, and learning.

It was certainly more subtle than Mirambela had implied, Aiko observed with half her attention, the other half on memorizing the teacher's names and subjects as they introduced both. The constant whispering between sessions was the main hint that something was up. If she listened, she could catch the occasional snatch of conversation about the exact circumstances for Mira's being held back a year, none of it flattering and most of it probably lies.

But if that was really all it was, then Aiko's advice to her new roommate might have been merely to get some thicker skin, because she knew as well as anyone how gossip swirled about in a crowded school environment and magnified even the smallest flaws into something others could discuss and laugh about. It was unpleasant, yes, but also impossible to fight. Girls will be girls, and boys will be boys, after all.

The real hint of a serious problem came in the third period, when Mira was assigned to hand out paper copies of a map. A boy stuck out his foot from his desk at the perfect timing to send her plummeting into the linoleum tile, the papers scattering everywhere.

Ms. Mattora didn't seem bothered by it. The teacher was unusually well-dressed and elegant with a coif more at home on a noblewoman, and now that showed in her tone as well. "I should hope, Ms. Sorano, that this is not an example of how you plan to spend the rest of your school year. Head up to the medical office, please. We'll see if they can find something for you."

Class proceeded normally once Mira was gone, and Aiko was even willing to admit that maybe the teacher had just missed seeing the trip. The clincher came for her shortly after, when she stopped by Mira's square locker. Someone had written several blocky katakana in black marker on the door that read: _'Go Home, Stupid Gaijin'._

"Please don't", Mira told her when they met up and Aiko started talking about reporting it to the teachers. "They won't do anything about it and it just makes things worse."

As a result, by the end of the day Aiko was a great deal more angry than she had wanted to be on her first day at the place she had hoped to call a home. When she saw the small boy coming down the hall, she nearly retreated into the girls' restroom out of the concern that all that pent-up rage might come blasting out and get her sent to the guidance office. Somehow, she held her tongue and waited for him to catch up.

"Aiko Tsuruga", the boy called in the exact opposite cadence. Calm and measured, while she felt like she was one more incident away from screaming.

"You remembered", she acknowledged. They rounded a corner into a small alcove of vending machines, blissfully free of anyone else for the moment. "Is there a reason you've been stalking me?"

The boy seemed genuinely confused. Now that they were up close, Aiko noticed that his face really did look a few years too young to be at a high school, not just his body. "Stalking? Oh... My. I suppose that's what it must look like to you, isn't it? My apologies. I am Shukiji Niyoga, second-year. Some call me the Information Merchant."

"That's an... interesting title", Aiko admitted, idly scratching her head and wondering where exactly this was going. The boy might have looked young, but there was something decidedly off about his voice, as though he was also auditioning for a villainous role in some TV show. "Fine. Is there a reason you've been following me around, Niyoga-san?"

Shukiji smiled back. "There is, or else I wouldn't have been doing it. I'm very busy these days. It's a new school year. People come to me asking for other people's information, offering all sorts of things in return. If there is anything about this school that you want to know, I can provide. For a price, of course."

"How charming", she remarked, taking a seat on a bench with him so that he no longer had to crane his neck upwards to look at her. "There are a few things, but I'm not paying you to tell me why you're following me. That, I want right now, before I tell a teacher."

Shukiji blinked and shrugged. "Be my guest. This isn't middle school where the teachers look after your slightest worry. They don't come over with band-aids and candy when you whine. I'll tell you, but I'd rather not give you the wrong impression twice in one day."

"Appreciated", she nodded back, still trying to figure out if this boy was friend or foe. "Go ahead. I'm listening."

His smile came back as he ran one hand through his wild black bush of dark hair, making Aiko wonder if he ever had trouble seeing where he was going. "First, I promise you that I not one of those JCAP fools. I have no patience for their ideology. Your origins _do_ mean something to me, but it will not cause me to treat you any differently. You're a student of Koashimizu High just as I am, and you deserve no grief."

Aiko knew much of the 'Japan Culture Allied Protectorate' of course. She doubted there was a single person in the country who hadn't witnessed one of their rallies or heard about them on the news.

The message on Mira's locker flashed back to her. _Gaijin._ The term meaning 'foreign devil', though only a short while ago it had not been considered to be an insult, merely a descriptor without any kind of negative focus. That was one of many things that had changed over the past handful of years as the Protectorate's power grew, slowly spreading out from a nucleus of influential people who had previously been upstanding members of Tokyo's 'United Future Party' before its sudden disbandment six years prior.

She'd tried to avoid them as best she could, but suddenly a lot of Mira's bullying made a lot more sense, and her green eyes narrowed, the anger from before surging back. "Are you saying that the people bullying Mira-senpai are JCAP?"

But Shukiji made an annoyed hiss, his patience for interrupting questions finally expired. "I said nothing of the sort, Tsuruga-san. I just told you that I am _not_ JCAP and I don't buy into their preaching. There _are_ , however, a number of students here who _do_ believe in what they say... and that is all I will tell you about that for free."

"Fine", she grumped. That tip alone was enough to clue her into just what she was dealing with here. Certainly, JCAP's influence had been felt in her years in middle school as well, but only distantly, like a dark storm on the far horizon that might never reach her. Now, it seemed it had at long last. "I can guess what you're going to ask next, but go ahead. I'll pretend to be shocked."

"Merely trying to avoid a mistaken impression twice", Shukiji reminded her patiently. "I was examining all of the first-years at the gathering this morning, committing all their details to memory. I catalogued all of your other major details easily... but for the life of me, I couldn't determine your origin. Are you full-blooded Japanese, or aren't you?"

Aiko studied the hallway passerby, idly wondering if this was a setup. "Are you joking? Cataloguing all our details? Why? How?"

Shukiji looked miffed at the accusation, but then he turned his around to check the hall as well. "You don't believe me? That's understandable. Not many other schools have an Information Merchant. A demonstration, then?"

The short boy took a deep breath. "You were born in Akihabara, the Electric City. Premature birth of about 2 weeks, I would guess. You look a few years older than you truly are. You've played video games for most of your life, yet you do not suffer from a lack of natural sunlight that is common to such people. You also enjoy swimming and face painting. On average, you've eaten slightly more than is recommended of a healthy growing girl. Your underwear size-"

"Stop", the command blurted out, shutting him up. Inwardly however, she couldn't help but be amazed- everything the short boy had just said was true, or close enough. "Stop. Okay, okay. I'm impressed now. You can really tell all of that just by looking at me, Niyoga-san? Are you some kind of detective?"

Shukiji nodded, trying not to be too smug about his greatest talent. "I am _not_ a detective. I merely possess an eidetic memory, and a gift for observation... Yet I was unable to determine your country of origin. Your name _is_ Japanese-sounding, but many foreign immigrants change their names to fit in better. Your hair, and that interesting ruby hairpin you have..." He put out both arms, as if in prayer. "Please, Tsuruga-san. Help me. This has never happened to me before, and I don't like it."

As proposals went, this had to be one of the most bizarre Aiko had seen in recent memory. He did seem sincere enough, and dedicated to his proclaimed role as a 'merchant'. And it gave her an idea.

"I'll tell you", she agreed at last. Like her own was said to be, Shukiji's smile was contagious, if a little bit too superior and self-satisfied for her liking. "We have to go to the assembly in the gym first. After that, I want my end of the deal in advance. A guided tour of the school, and information about how Mirambela Sorano failed her first year of school here. _Then_ I'll tell you."

It was Shukiji's turn to lean back, palm his chin, and consider what was being offered. "Your terms are steep", he remarked thoughtfully. "But it's all information that I already possess, and I'm not doing anything important after the assembly. The trade is fair. I will see you after school in the lobby, Tsuruga-san. Don't be late."

The boy stood, departing quickly as if this was an everyday conversation for him and leaving Aiko to marvel at just what she was getting into here. "A pleasure doing business with you, Niyoga-san", she murmured softly.

Maybe she had just hallucinated the whole thing?

* * *

4/9 Tuesday

After School

The hole in the ground must have gone down at least 10 feet, its length even greater. Countless perfectly square tiles lined the walls, a complex pattern of white, black and blue. The steel railings and rungs of the ladder had likely been exposed to the outdoor rain for a long time, but it still looked shiny and new.

Of course, none of that meant anything, because the remaining side of the hole was a wall of packed dirt instead of tile, surrounded by protective barriers.

Aiko couldn't help but be livid, clenching her fists and staring down into the gap in the earth like it had slapped her. "What the hell is this? The pool isn't done?!"

Beside her, Shukiji merely nodded sagely at her reaction to the last stop on their tour of the school. "Exactly halfway completed. Three years ago, they were building it... but the money ran out. Most people blame the change of principal around that time, and I'd consider that an accurate appraisal. Principal Sanaki had many faults, but he was good with finances."

"Principal Yumika seemed okay", Aiko remarked, remembering the speech they'd just gone through. Tetsuo Yumika was very young and bookish-looking for a principal, going so far as to wear a pair of thick round glasses along with a blue tweed jacket and scarf to make him look deliberately older, or perhaps he was merely cold.

In contrast to the intro classes, the principal's speech had been mercifully brief and to the point, simply complimenting the students and staff, reminding them of Koashimizu's proud history as the largest academic institute in the Kochi prefecture, and then expressing his hope that this would be another fine school year. It had taken less than fifteen minutes.

"Principal Yumika tries", Shukiji admitted, staring down at the empty hole as well. "He's optimistic, like you. But you weren't here last year. Last year, his opening speech was almost the same, except it included positive references to the school's commitment to multiculturalism and accepting students of all nationalities. Nothing of that this year. He's getting backed into a corner, no doubt... and of course, he doesn't have the business skills to force the construction firm into finishing their job here, or create anything else new at the school. In a few more years, he'll be done for. His career will be buried down there."

"That's an awful thing to say", Aiko said, her rage at a lack of outdoor pool gradually subsiding. Incredibly, the changing facilities were all set to go and could be used, but the pool itself remained an incomplete mess. "I'll just have to use the coastline then."

"You _are_ committed", Shukiji noted with grudging approval and looking towards the far edge of the massive cliff the school was built on. The entire Pacific was visible from here, and the sun beginning to settle down into it as its light started to fade from yellow into orange. Her favourite time of day. "I've never understood the allure myself, but a lot of students and parents were very excited to have a pool here. They were equally upset when it got cancelled... and _I hope you're not planning on diving from here_!"

That last bit of alarmed shout was because Aiko had actually taken her school blazer off to fight the afternoon heat, leaving only the white shirt underneath as she stretched and kicked her shoes off to enjoy the feel of the tall grass on her feet. "I know", she assured him. "I saw the brochure. There's tons of rocks down below here, right? Even if there weren't, an impact like that might knock you out. The coast will be safer."

Hesitating a moment, Shukiji looked back at the fading sun. "Don't be so sure. There's a circulating rumour lately about a certain portion of that coast. A small inlet called the Yume Bay."

Looking to the east, Aiko could see the coast in question with a score of small fishing boats docked along it. It was certainly a marvel of natural rock formations there, though she couldn't tell which of the subdivided beaches was Yume Bay. "And we all know how reliable rumour is, right?"

Shukiji amazed her by chuckling like a normal human boy might instead of an anime villain.

"We do. But most rumours of that type are lazy and uncreative, normally focused on the slander of a student or teacher. This one, however... someone got creative with it. They say that if you should wade into the Yume Bay exactly at the time the sun sets into the sea, you will be led into a far away land where your greatest dreams come true."

Aiko frowned, checking the sun's position again. It was almost sunset, and not enough time for her to run down to the coast and check for herself. "Has anyone tried it?"

Shukiji laughed, less innocently than before. "Oh, I'm sure that many have! Earning nothing for their trouble except wet clothes, of course. They wouldn't confess to such a failure."

"No", Aiko agreed, turning away from the sun and the bay. "Of course not. Just another crazy rumour, right Niyago-kun? Did you ever hear that crazy one about the TV you put your hand into that takes you to another world?"

"Most amusing", he agreed, wiping a jolly tear away once they'd both finished laughing together at the ridiculousness of the tale. "If the makers of these rumours spent half as much time studying as they did making up stories... hm. Enough about rumours, then. Time for facts. Time to hold up your end of the bargain, Tsuruga-san."

Looking back at him to find the face of the stoic Information Merchant he'd first come to her as, she shook her head. "But you haven't completed my end yet. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate the tour. I feel like I know where everything is now. But more important to me was finding out how Mira-senpai failed. She's _not_ stupid. You know that, if you've examined her like everyone else here."

"No, she isn't stupid", Shukiji agreed more delicately. "I promise I will tell you the reason... but the day is nearly over, and I can't wait any longer. I won't be able to sleep. It shouldn't take long, no?"

"It won't", she accepted, taking a breath and inwardly bracing herself for the backlash she knew was coming the moment she had agreed to this deal. "I... I don't know."

Shukiji visibly boggled at that, but thankfully he didn't seem to be in danger of falling off the cliff at the shock. Neither did he seem as angry as she feared. "You... what do you mean, _you don't know_?! Ask your parents! Check your family tree! Perform a blood test!"

Their gaze met, and Shukiji finally understood that this was not a joking matter. For Aiko, it had been a painful one for many years. "I never knew my father", she explained. "My mother, Kogaya... she doesn't speak a word about him, and she destroyed anything that might have told me who he is. She even banned me from ever accessing the hospital records. When I ask her, she just gets mad. I know that _she_ is native Japanese, and so was her mother. But I really have no idea who my father was. Sorry, Niyoga-kun. I'm sure you were looking forward to something more."

Shukiji visibly pondered this for a long time, then suddenly ripped out a handful of grass by the roots. "Your body language tells me that you're speaking the truth as you know it. So, you really do have no idea... light gray hair like yours is quite a rarity in any country, but it can occur in any number of them through mutation. And that ruby pin... the design doesn't match any culture I've ever studied."

That unconsciously brought Aiko's hands up to the hairpin in question, a folded black metal ridge folding the rearward portion of her hair into a more conservative tail. As Shukiji had said, the body of the pin ended with a small, round ruby tucked into it. It was her only hair accessory, the only one she had ever wanted or needed.

"I think my father got it for me", she offered timidly, sensing disappointment coming on. "But I can't even be sure of that. As far as I'm concerned, the sea gave birth to me."

" _Nonsense_ ", he countered, showing anger for the first time as he stared out into the waves as if daring them to come prove him wrong. "The sea is a vast body of water. It can't give birth to a human. I understand that you enjoy swimming and boating very much Tsuruga-san, but please. Haven't we both heard enough fantasy for one day?"

"I guess", she gave in. There was no point in continuing to list to him everything else she'd experienced in her life that supported her theory. No point in telling him about how often she had dreams of waking up for the first time on some forgotten shore, or how weirdly welcoming it felt when she submerged, faint noises echoing in her ears as though the sea itself was embracing her. "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

Shukiji stood up as the breeze stirred his hair, but any anger he might have shown before was gone. "You have no reason to be sorry, Tsuruga-san. I was expecting you to be either a native Japanese on both sides, or half-American like Rosea or Sakaguchi. Boring. Predictable. Instead, I find myself with a complete wild card. A fabulously fascinating puzzle; _Who is Aiko Tsuruga_?"

Though glad that Shukiji wasn't mad at her, Aiko could only shrug. Her phone's beeping interrupted them, but she quickly shut it down, knowing already who would be calling and how little she desired to speak with them right now. "I'm afraid I don't know that myself."

The breeze had thrust Shukiji's wild hair into his eyes, and he pulled it away so she could see the fresh excitement in his young eyes now, and he placed the other hand on her shoulder. "I will find out. It will take me some time, but I _will_ find out. I promise you. There is no knowledge in this world that I shouldn't have. Once I do... it will be expensive, but I'll be happy to sell you the information at a discount price."

Like smiles, his excitement was easily spread, even if Aiko had never felt quite as determined to learn the truth of her identity as he was now. "And Mira-senpai?"

Almost lucid again, Shukiji nodded back solemnly. "It's nearly dark. I will tell you tomorrow after school. I never break a deal. Thank you for this, Tsuruga-san."

 _Is he my friend? I'm pretty sure this feels like we're friends now. Or at least the closest thing he ever gets. Weird as he is, I feel like I can trust him, just like I can trust Mira-senpai._

Her considerations about exactly how to handle the self-proclaimed Information Merchant were disrupted when a keening noise drew their attention back to the southern coastline. After a moment, the source revealed itself as a single bird flying among the rock formations down there, possibly looking for a way to ascend higher, up over the cliff edge.

"A saker falcon", Shukiji identified the creature, back to his usual staid calmness now. "At this latitude? Curious. Well, we really should get back. See you tomorrow."

Aiko smiled back. "See you tomorrow, Niyoga-kun."

Neither bothered watching the falcon as it took a high perch upon the rocks near the school gates.

* * *

 _Aiko tiptoed down the small stairs of the home that was not her home, praying not to be noticed. There was a woman waiting for her there in the building that was supposed to be home, ebon-haired and willowy. Her long lips failed to mask her true feelings._

 _This woman who was supposed to be mother, who claimed to be mother. But she lied. Every day, she woke up and started to lie more about that. She treated her daughter like she was a walking, talking sin._

 _This was not mother. Mothers appreciated their children. They loved them in actions, not merely words. Their eyes held only joy. Yet every time she looked she saw it, that regret. A lingering wish that tainted every breath, every gesture._

 _That horrible wish that she did not have a child at all. The desire to never see that child again, that some accident would happen to them._

 _This was not home, then. Home lay elsewhere, waiting for her to find it._

 _She would have to find it on her own._

* * *

4/9 Tuesday

Evening

The sudden flash of blue made her think she was standing on the coast, but in the next moment she realized that the blue was a far more subdued shade, generated by something other than water.

The next moment after that let her remember that she was supposed to be in her bed at the dorm. Instead of sitting in a circular wooden chair in the middle of a room she'd never seen before in her life.

"AH! Huh?"

The sleep fell from her eyes then, and the details became clearer. The room was of average size, but the ceiling, floor and walls were all lined with the same shade of uniform blue. The exceptions were the windows, perfectly round metal frames that brought a seafaring ship to mind even before she peered outside one of them to see an endless horizon of completely black water and a sky to match.

It was only then that the other occupant of the room registered to her, seated across a broad oak table with a squat compass, antique coins, and some kind of parchment strewn across it, covered in strange markings... a map, perhaps?

 _Focus, Aiko. If this is some kind of bizarre kidnapping..._

The man poised across the other end of the table table was stooped and short like Shukiji, but while the appearance of the 'Information Merchant' contrasting with his personality might have induced a few laughs, then this one had to be a living cartoon. She was fairly sure it was impossible for any human to possess a nose as long or wide as the one before her, a sharp thing stretching down from his round face almost to the table.

Behind that was a cheshire grin of teeth that matched his nose, forked eyebrows, and cornered ears almost like an elf. A line of of elegant gray hair bracketed a balding dome, suggesting age if what she was looking at a human after all. Two white gloved hands perched like spiders just past the wide sleeves of a dressy black outfit, which held a white rose in its kerchief pocket.

"Welcome aboard, my guest", the bizarre-looking man greeted her with an oddly high-pitched, reedy tone that only made his grin even more unsettling as he clasped his deep-sleeved hands on the table. "I welcome you, Dream Voyager, to the Velvet Room."

* * *

A/N: Like Shukiji said, sometimes it's best to have an explanation first to avoid bad first impressions.

Firstly, a sincere apology to anyone who has been holding on for years hoping for a continuation of my Ogre Battle story. Unless the mood suddenly strikes me, that probably won't be happening. Interest waned and there were just too many characters to keep track of, (a mistake I don't intend to make here) and do justice to. In fact, few games have interested me at all enough to write about as of late, a sad fact of age... until I ran into Persona 5, that is. For a while it was all I could think about, so a story is inevitable.

But I don't do halfway measures, so aside from a few cameos I'm going to be making a completely new Persona story, cast and setting here, albeit using a structure similar to P5 and taking place 6 years after it. As for any reservations anyone may have about said setting, I promise you that one of my biggest concerns is avoiding letting the JCAP part of this story become too dominant. They're only the backdrop, at least for now. Perhaps that may change, depending on how people feel about it.

As for why I choose to use a fictional high school with a large population of foreign exchange students, it's a sort of compromise between an idea that gets floated around Persona fandoms fairly often, asking for a Persona game not set in Japan. At the same time, I don't want to lose any of the things inherent to that setting that make the series great, and I feel setting it in my own home would cause it to lose a lot of its flavour.

The rest of my concept for this tale, including main character Aiko Tsuruga, comes from watching CrossPawGames' channel on Youtube, specifically the video speculating on what we would like to see in Persona 6. Credit where due. He includes a picture in that video that is pretty close to how I'm trying to describe her appearance and character. Look it up if you like, but the rest is going to be my own ideas.

Phew. Glad to get all that off my chest. I'm hoping to update once a week and I have a good buffer built up, but as always reviews make me more productive. Hope you all enjoy what will probably be my swan song, and let's think positive.


	2. Koashimizu Academy

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/9 Tuesday

Evening

If this _was_ a kidnapping, it wasn't anything like the movies had taught Aiko to expect.

"AH! The _Velvet Room_? What the hell?! How did you kidnap me out of the dorm? You'll be sorry, pervert!"

That wide, toothy smile was still there. It irritated her like Shukiji's never had. "Worry not, for you are still sound asleep within your own dorm room. You see, this is a special place that exists within the human subconscious, between dreams and reality, between mind and matter. My name is Igor, and I have invited you here for a special purpose. I trust that you accepted my invitation?"

Disbelieving, Aiko tried her most scornful, angry stare... but the long-nosed man won that contest with his weirdly round eyes and tiny hellish pupils. She now knew how Shukiji had felt not so long ago; not wanting to believe what someone was telling her, but also unable to sense or disprove their lie.

 _Keep your way._ The only way forward was to play along. "Well gee, thanks Mr. Igor, but I don't recall accepting an invitation to anywhere, least of all this weird ship."

"So you recognise it", Igor said approvingly. "Good. Perhaps my assistant will be able to make you understand more clearly."

Something in those deep velvet-limned shadows behind Igor moved, and there was a flash of green light. When that was gone as well, Aiko beheld another figure standing next to her 'host'.

He was a boy perhaps a few years older than her of a more normal height and proportion, younger yet far taller than his master. He wore a crisp-looking solid blue naval officer's getup, completed by golden buttons and an anchor-shaped badge over his heart. A gold-lined blue admiral's cap completed his uniform, though it could not have contained the boy's medium-length mane and bangs of fluffy, sandy brown hair if he'd tried.

The most startling thing about him was the eye patch covering the right eye of an otherwise extraordinarily handsome and cute face, surpassing even Noel Vitienne; a marine blue oval bearing a golden butterfly symbol. His remaining eye was a molten gold colour, and she decided it would be better off not to try and see what exactly the patch was concealing.

"Our course is set, master", the lad spoke in a polite, composed tone after taking a formal bow. "A storm rises, but I predict smooth sailing ahead for 3 days."

"Good work", the old man nodded. "Allow me to introduce my assistant and navigator, Bartholomew."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance", the handsome sandy-haired boy followed up with a formal bow towards Aiko as well. At least he was a lot less creepy than his so-called master despite the eye patch.

"You seem normal", she observed for lack of anything better to say. "Can you get me out of here, Bart-san?"

But the pleasant sailor boy merely smiled comfortingly. "You will be gone from here soon enough, Dream Voyager. My master only wished to pay you a greeting first, to try and prepare you for what is to come."

Aiko was still willing to bet good money that this was just another wild dream... but she couldn't deny that Bartholomew's last words set her hairs on end. "For... what is to come?"

Igor grinned back as if sharing a private joke between the three of them.

"Your world is currently caught up in a time of great upheaval. Ancient forces are moving through the sea of human consciousness that seek to regress all of reality to naught but chaos. When such threats arise, one human with a pure heart and the will to defy these forces is blessed with the power of the Wild Card to vanquish them."

The man gave another disturbing chuckle that echoed through the room. "That, it seems, is humanity's unconscious defence mechanism, to produce such fine young specimens as its chosen saviours. It has happened before, and it is happening _now_. The bearer of the Wild Card, and the power of Persona... is _you_."

Once again, Aiko was at a loss of what to say to that. Fortunately, Bartholomew sensed her confusion. "The power will awaken when you have need of it", he promised her. "You will not be aware of it, or us, until that time. Until then, all we ask is that you keep your way."

 _Keep your way..._ "Wait... how do you know that phrase? What is all of-"

But she couldn't quite get the last words out. She felt so sleepy all of a sudden. She had to-

* * *

4/10 Wednesday

Morning

"Tsuruga-san... Tsuruga-san!"

Aiko's eyes shot open and she nearly punched the person standing over her. When the fog escaped from her head, she saw that it was Mira.

"Y-you're going to be late", the taller girl could only stammer. 'It's almost first period."

Then those sleep-shrouded eyes widened. "Crap! The alarm... I forgot!"

The rest felt to her like it was on autopilot. There was no time to sense others around her, and no time to process her actions and movements except on a very basic level. Feelings of shame and alarm competed in her heart, but letting either slow her down would have been an invitation to disaster.

Finally, once the world's quickest breakfast and dress up was taken care of and she was actually walking the short distance from the dorm to the school, she had time to mope. _Crapcrapcrapcrap... only I could be late while living less than five minutes' walk from school... maybe I am stupid after all!_

 _Mira._ The self-pity brought her roommate back to mind. Mira had helped her, even after all her words the day before about how they ought to stay away from each other.

The main building of Koashimizu academy loomed before her now, a lined edifice of white-beige brick and dark linoleum far longer than it was wide or tall, to the point that there was enough room for an outdoor courtyard. The school's emblem, which she took to be a dolphin leaping out of the water, had been carved into the brickwork above the front door. Windows clustered along the tops of the walled both inside and outside, providing good views of the cliffs and coast below as well as the two dorm buildings and the 'pool shack'.

Today was the today she was going in there to learn more about Mira. She wouldn't let Shukiji put her off any longer. _I_ will _help you, Mira-senpai. Just watch. I won't let these awful people make you miserable any more!_

Of course, before doing any of _that_ there was the matter of first period. Aiko was pleased to learn from Mr. Takao, the first-year homeroom teacher, that the general pattern for most school assignments was to have all of the ones assigned over the weekdays due on Saturday. A clean, easily remembered deadline. To help them further, all assignments could be submitted on the school computers directly to private email addresses for each teacher.

"You're all so lucky", Mr. Takao noted without envy. Aiko liked him- straight and simple and forward about what he wanted to say to them, and he never bothered Mira or the other exchange students. Too bad he was in home room, and not a real class. "Computers make all sorts of assignments easier to handle since you never need to get more pens or paper, and there's a nearly limitless well of reference material."

Brushing one hand through clean, jet black hair, he regarded them all more seriously, having an athletic enough body to project a threat if he wanted to. "I want to remind you all now to check your sources on all assignments, and review the rules regarding what plagiarism means."

Her chance appeared later in the day. Ms. Mattora was at it again, singling Mira out for several very difficult questions with the reasoning that 'she should already know them all after last year'. "The Meiji Restoration", she continued on after Mira had gotten two right. "Can anyone here describe what it entailed, and how it affected Japan's future? Anyone? Well, let's hear from our ace historian again. Sorano?"

Looking at her own textbook after the first time, Aiko was fairly sure that Mira had nailed the right answer again. The problem was, it was a lot of words to describe something that looked to be a major revolution, and Mira wasn't speaking loudly enough. She looked tired, Aiko observed, and being asked to repeat something again and again except louder wasn't helping. Neither did it help when Aiko put her hand up, trying to field the question instead.

"Ms. Sorano, please do not mumble in my classroom. I would think you would be familiar with all this material by now since-"

"The Meiji Restoration", Aiko spoke from the other end of the room with all her might, just shy of shouting. "The transformation of Japan from a feudal society into a modern industrial state by assimilating foreign arts and sciences, beginning at the end of the Edo period-"

"Ms. Tsuruga", the teacher finally cut her off with an annoyed glance. "I believe I said that Ms. Sorano would be the one to answer this question."

 _Keep your way._ Aiko held her gaze, trying to look as innocent and subservient as possible while a folded piece of paper bounced off the back of her head. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Mattora-sensei. I must have misheard you. Please forgive me, it's just so loud in this room, and-"

"Enough." Mattora tried Sorano again, but the damage- or, Aiko hoped, the opposite of damage- was already done. Mira actually _smiled_ back at her and belted out the entire answer with renewed energy, and, Aiko couldn't help noticing, in her own words. The fact that the lecture went on to try and paint the acceptance of Western cultures and values into the country as a bad thing barely registered. Just seeing that smile was enough.

* * *

Shukiji met up with her at lunch time, looking just as fascinated as he had last night on the cliff. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Quite the stupendous spectacle you made in Mattora's class today. I approve... but you should watch your back now that you've tipped your hand."

"I'll be careful", Aiko promised. Noticing another familiar face eating alone, she pointed. "What's happening with Vitienne-senpai? He looks terrible."

"Information merchant", was all Shukiji said. When the meaning registered with her, she shook her head at him. "Really? For something so simple?"

"Vitienne-san is sad", the boy replied in deadpan. "That's completely out of character for him. You can observe that much without my help. If you want my personal advice as to exactly _why_ he is sad, that will cost you."

Aiko felt her eyes involuntarily rolling and she threw up her hands in surrender. "You're ridiculous. Mira-senpai first, then."

"As you say", Shukiji agreed. More welcome was the revelation that he had used the extra time she'd given him to compile an entire compilation of all school assignments written by Mirambela in the first year, including grades for each and the main points of each project. Pages and pages of raw data that made her eyes hurt from the strain after a while... and then lunch was over. There was no time to even go visit Noel's table.

 _One at a time now._ Aiko knew her limits, that trying to save every single exchange student from the kind of bullying she'd witnessed Mira being subject to was probably beyond her abilities. Mira was a start, and if that turned out to be a success... then she'd keep going. _Keep your way._

It was such a strange setup, she mused to herself as the remaining periods went by. Like Shukiji, the more that she observed of Koashimizu, the more she learned. She was learning both in and outside the classroom, and the information gleaned from the outside was a lot more interesting to her.

Most of the teachers here didn't believe in JCAP's ideals, their claims that all foreign immigrants were a negative influence on the country. Some of them, like Ms. Mattora, obviously did, but most of them treated the school's large number of exchange students with the same respect as the other students in their charge. Old Mr. Noriyama in fourth period treated all his students with disrespect, but she chalked that up to his grumpy personality. Every school had at least one of that kind of teacher, she reasoned. It was unavoidable, especially after she learned that Principal Yumika had taken great pains not to fire any teachers in the past two years.

She knew that Shukiji wouldn't reveal the reason for that freely, but her own observation and listening would suffice for it, even if it took longer. Overall, she was in a positive mood after the school bell rang, nearly skipping down the steps into the main courtyard until she saw what was waiting for her there.

There were a huge number of students around, but only a few really stood out to Aiko. One of them was Mirambela, who was lying on the concrete trying to hide her face. The others were a small group of third-year girls. The rest just seemed to be backdrop. _Or... are they here to stop someone from running away?_

"I'll ask you again", one of the third-years who seemed to be in charge spoke to Mira, almost sounding compassionate. Almost. "I know how you have a hard time following instructions, Mira-san. Who helped you? Was it Ushio-san? No... I heard it was another girl, right? Who?"

Bad odds, Aiko observed fretfully. Maybe the student blockade was also there to make sure any teacher- or at least any teacher who would do something about it- didn't walk in and see it. This seemed like something boys would do, and though it sounded like Mira was crying, Aiko saw no signs of physical harm on her. _Good. Maybe they're all bark and no bite._

Of course, walking into the courtyard and between tormentor and tormented made the idea of interrogating Mira a moot point. The moment they saw someone else stand up for Mira, they knew they had found who they were looking for, or at least the leader did.

It wasn't quite like looking into a mirror, but she was close enough in the facial structure that Aiko took longer than normal to process it. The leader was tall with beautiful black bangs framing her face and head, dark green eyes just like Aiko's own and very prominent curves even for a third year. Under better circumstances, she might have considered the girl to be what she wanted to look like when she grew up.

"There you are", she noted quietly. "Aren't you _so_ lucky, Mira-san? You cry and your dog comes so quickly. Wish I had someone like that."

"Kujou-senpai", Mira managed to grunt, obviously more afraid for Aiko than herself. "Kujou-senpai, please... she's not-"

"Be _quiet_ ", the older girl bit out, changing her focus to Aiko. "Did you come here to atone for your mistake? Tsuruga, right? That's your name? Mattora-sensei is very upset with you for disrupting her class. Good thing the student disciplinary committee caught wind of it. Koashimizu is a school of strong discipline, and we're lucky to have skilled students volunteer to keep the troublemakers in line.."

Aiko shrugged as if the matter were meaningless. "Not from where I'm standing. You must be that Kujou."

"Benihime Kujou- _Senpai_ ", one of the other girls corrected her sternly. "Head of the Student Disciplinary Committee. Mind your tongue!"

But Kujou didn't care about the byplay or the fact that her title had no visible effect on Aiko. She looked closely at her, as if trying to examine her like Shukiji had. "Strange", she mused at last. "You don't look like a gaijin at all, except for that ugly hair. Why would you help this one?"

"She didn't! She didn't! I promi-"

"Because no one else did", Aiko provided after a moment's thought, cutting Mira off before Kujou could. "Which I found very strange. This is a very strange school, Kujou-senpai. Everywhere else I've been, no one treats foreign student in this way."

Inwardly, she realized that she was getting far too good at being theatrically polite to people she didn't think highly of.

"I see." Kujou nodded, chuckling as if the whole thing was a misunderstanding between the two of them. "You're confused. I understand, Tsuruga-san. We all need to be much tougher here at Koashimizu academy, because this school is where all the gaijin get sent to now. If they get together, they could totally ruin Koashimizu's record of discipline... not that you're an exemplar of discipline either, native-blood or not... and I'm wondering if you are with that disruptive attitude of yours."

Her 'mirror' smirked. Aiko could feel the heated stares of a hundred students on her now. Even if most of them were on Benihime's side, she could tell they couldn't wait to see what would happen next, even if a physical confrontation was unlikely.

"This _has_ been most enlightening, Kujou-san, thank you. But unlike you, we have homework to get to. So, I'll just take my roommate back, and-"

"Look at that skank", Benihime cut her off just as quickly with a wide gesture to draw people's eyes where she pointed. "Walking around the school like she thinks people don't _know_! I'll have you know, Tsuruga-san, that stuffing your bra with tissues is an act of vanity that we're licensed to punish. Trust me... if we left it unchecked, it would get completely ridiculous among the older students."

Aiko knew she looked flustered and couldn't help it. She hadn't expected a jab from that direction. She had an average chest for her age, but it was hardly excessive as she was being accused of. Benihime herself had a bigger one, though her excuse was more than likely being several years older and taller.

Sensing metaphorical blood, Kujou pounced. "Get her! Rip out those tissues!"

She took an involuntary step back, but it was too late. Not everyone in the crowd was willing to obey the command, but at least four of the girls there were, and she could sense the raw anticipation from some of the boys gathered there as well even if they wouldn't join in directly.

Everyone was shouting. They knew what was going to happen. Later, much later, she would find out that Kujou had done it to a number of foreign girl students as a ritual humiliation, and when her 'committee' got especially rough digging around for 'bra tissues', they just might dig a bit _too_ hard, and pull it off entirely. _Disgusting. How can anyone possibly enjoy doing this to someone else?_

She was about to find out. There was no chance of escape, and fighting back was impossible. _Did I... did I do right? Was that the right thing to do after all? Have I... kept my way?_

Her answer came in the form of two screams. One, the first, was the inhuman screech from a falcon swooping down into the courtyard at a speed Aiko didn't know birds were capable of. The second was human. It was Benihime, now lying on the floor with a pair of actively bleeding scratches running down her left arm.

That was all it took. Any student who didn't simply panic and run away was now focused on helping Benihime, not on her. Seeing her chance, Aiko grabbed Mira by the arm and ran.

Their hands stayed wound together until they were safely back in the dorm.

* * *

4/10 Wednesday

After School

"If that's _not_ stormy weather", Aiko remarked when they got back to the dorm. "Then I don't want to know what is."

Mira blinked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? There's no clouds anywhere."

That... was a good question. _Where_ did _I get that from? I haven't watched any movies lately._ All she knew was there was something... something that told her that there would be some real trouble starting on Friday, a mere two days away from now. "Uh... never mind. Are you okay, Mira-senpai? Did they hurt you?"

"Just a few nail scratches", Mira promised, holding up her arms to prove it. The real damage was emotional- she retreated to her own side of the room the instant Aiko had confirmed she was telling the truth. "I told you, Tsuruga-san. I told you. Kujou-san always gets her way. She's the queen of Koashimizu, and her father is a major member of JCAP."

"I'm pretty confident", Aiko replied swiftly as she shook her own fear off, "that her getting cut into by a random bird out for blood _wasn't_ what she wanted out of today. So there's that."

Mira shook her head morosely. "It doesn't there, it never does. Horrible rumours, messages, harassment... Kujou-san and her friends will keep on going after you until you can't stand it anymore. You stood up to her. That makes her really mad. She won't stop until she feels like she's beaten you into the ground and made you grovel at her feet."

Aiko had had enough. Not just enough of dealing with people like Benihime and Ms. Mattora, and nearly losing her modesty, but of her roommate's constant gloom and doom as well.

Casually striding up to her bed, she brought her hand down hard on the post. "Why are you here, Mira-senpai? All the fun memories of last year? If it's so bad, why can't you just leave? There are other, better places to get a high school education."

Mira waited to answer, staring down at the carpet, but it was obvious that she didn't need to think that long to come up with it. She'd known the answer for years. "Because, Tsuruga-san... schools in other countries have it the same way. JCAP is not alone. There are groups in other countries, under different names that do the same thing in their homelands, fighting to keep outsiders away. Maybe it wouldn't be quite this bad in other countries... but this academy is the one that my father paid for me to go to, because he thought it was the best one. He has no more money for another one."

Then the adrenalin wore off, and what she had done hit Aiko like a slap to the face. "Ah... Mira-senpai, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to shout at you. I just..."

A knock on the door interrupted her, and she felt Mira bracing for the worst. Taking a deep breath herself, Aiko pried it open to see another tall girl she didn't know.

That was surprising, considering how she was dressed. Opera-length black leather gloves covered her arms up to her student uniform's sleeves to cover every single inch of skin except for the face, and that face was coated with a thin layer of white powder accentuating two rings of black eyeshadow and lipstick further. Wildly spiked dark hair with a neon pink hairband around it completed the effect. She looked like someone you might see in a rave club.

Despite foreboding looks, her voice was oddly friendly. "Hey. I'm Reiha. Reiha Hayato, room 8. You're Tsuruga-san and Sorano-san, right?"

"Yesss", Aiko drew the word out anxiously. Was this Kujou's revenge already? Order some leather-bent thug to come into their room and trash it? "Can we help you with something, Hayato-san?"

"I saw you", the older girl said simply, letting the claim hang in the air. "You probably didn't see me, because I was watching you from the 2nd floor window. You stood up to Benihime Kujou. It's been ages since I've seen anyone stand up to that bitch, and I have to say, I'm really impressed."

Despite herself, Aiko flinched and felt Mira doing the same behind her. She employed a fair number of cuss words herself- more than Kogaya had wanted to hear, certainly- but hearing Reiha straight up call another girl, a fellow student, that word made her wonder if she hadn't actually graduated long ago. "Is that all that you wanted to say, Hayato-san?"

Reiha shook her head. "No. First off, I wanted to express my appreciation that someone else around this dump is willing to fight. Second... you know she's going to try and get back at you, right? I know her. She'll blame that bird attack on you, Tsuruga-san. You have to be ready to strike back."

 _Maybe she's right_ , Aiko couldn't help but think. _Maybe that falcon_ was _my fault. That looked like the same one from the day before, with the white feathers. What, does it have a crush on me or something?_

"Strike back?", Mira said in the meantime, doing the talking for her. She sounded horrified. "How? She's-"

"I'll help you", Reiha offered, refusing to move from the door. "I'm a third-year, native-born. _And_ I'm on the disciplinary committee, the same as her. Exchange your contact information with me, and call me when she makes her move. You won't be sorry."

That finally convinced Aiko to let their guest into the room before closing the door, leading to the revelation that she had brought them dinner as well- dishes of saucy takoyaki, green onion, and bite-size kanikko that Aiko hadn't even known could be found in such a place.

"There's a store in the city nearby", Reiha explained when asked. "Gorusaki's Mart. A bit pricier than the usual lunchroom slop, but you've both had a pretty rough day. I figured you've earned it."

One more reason to be grateful to Reiha, Aiko decided over their meal. She'd been so busy with school that she'd almost forgotten that there was a short road and bus leading from the campus to Tosashimizu city. It wasn't exactly a huge urban sprawl compared to Akihabara, but there had to be tons of stores and restaurants there she'd never seen before. As expected, she'd heard that they specialised in seafood.

Contrary to her appearance, Reiha was a model guest as well, to the point that Aiko actually felt ashamed for judging her so quickly based on that. When her phone beeped, she shut it down. Spending quality time tonight with Mira and Reiha was much more appealing, and it quickly became clear that she had a third-year's veteran knowledge as well.

"Does Principal Yumika know about this?", Aiko asked once they were done eating. "About how Kujou and Mattora and others treat the foreign exchange students?"

"Oh, he knows", Reiha said neutrally as she lounged on Mira's bed. "He just can't do anything about it right now. He can't monitor every inch of the school by himself, and half the teachers here won't report it to him. Of course, this will definitely get reported now that the birdie got involved. Just not in the way you'd like."

"Then he's not doing his job", she argued angrily. "A few teachers might be missed, but his job is to make sure all the students here are safe and comfortable. To make the school closer to a home."

For the first time, Reiha looked scornful. Not of Yumika, but of her naivete. "Speaking from your long experience with high school principals, are you? Principal Yumika tries hard. I respect him for that. He's definitely no friend of the JCAP. He's even caught a few students. But he has a _lot_ of other shit to take care of besides dealing with things that the teachers ought to be addressing."

"He should fire Mattora", Aiko pressed further.

"For what?", Reiha asked in disgust. "For showing favouritism? Where's the proof of that? You can't just fire a teacher on hearsay, and Principal Yumika is reluctant to fire anyone at all with how hard it would be to replace 'em these days." Despite her dismissive words, she did look a bit more thoughtful now, folding her black gloves behind her head as she leaned back into the bed cushions.

"I suppose that if there was solid proof of something _really_ serious, like that motherfucker at Shujin academy six years back, he would. But Mattora doesn't do that. None of the teachers at Koashimizu do. No... they're more subtle. Not to say they're all assholes. Only a few of 'em are, really. It's just that you notice the assholes a lot more."

An annoyed grunt cut into their talk then, one of the first sounds Mira had made in quite some time. Seeing her struggling with something on her phone, Reiha laconically reached over to her. "Something wrong, Mira-chan?"

Mira couldn't have looked more embarrassed. "I'm trying to log your contact info, Hayato-senpai. But it won't take it. It's the buttons..."

Aiko sat perfectly still as the two older girls worked out the problem, not looking, not talking or anything else that might have been taken as her judging Mira. "Just use your fingernails", Reiha advised her kindly. "Touchscreens are finicky like that. That's why I just get one with normal buttons, even if it's an older model. Dunno what I'll do when they get retired."

It would certainly be difficult for Reiha to use a touchscreen while wearing those gloves, Aiko observed silently. Over the last few decades, texting with phones had become second-nature to practically all people her age, to the point that being less than proficient at it was grounds for exclusion from some social circles. She hadn't wanted to bring up the fact that Mira's spelling when texting her was extremely poor. _One more unfair contribution to the way people treat her here._

 _MS: Ic that vettet?_

 _MS: Sorry, better*_

 _AS: It's fine, Senpai. I'm not a spelling nazi._

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Reiha sat up and nodded to Aiko. "Like I said, it's nice to see someone else standing up to Kujou's bullshit for once. This place is tough, no question, but having someone stand by you can make it survivable. With two people, you're _almost_ safe. I'll keep in touch, Tsuruga-san."

She took along with her the gloom which had shrouded Aiko earlier, though Mira still looked unconvinced, merely staring absently at her phone. "Not so hard, surviving in hell with a few allies?", Aiko asked encouragingly.

"No", Mira admitted with the hint of a smile. "Not so hard."

* * *

4/11 Thursday

Morning

Reiha aside, there were other hopeful signs on the next day. The shift in the tone of gossip surrounding her was subtle, but noticeable if you bothered to listen. Somehow, every single student in Koashimizu already knew about the mysterious falcon attack, and more importantly, the way Aiko had openly confronted Benihime in the main courtyard just before it.

"So you really don't stuff your bra?", a wide-eyed second-year with an unusually long curled black ponytail coiled around her right shoulder that Aiko hadn't known until now asked her. "That's natural?"

"All natural, Samesaji-chan", Aiko swore, already mentally bracing herself for the school's rumour mill forcing her to deal with that question a lot more than she wanted to. "I'd prove it, but you know. Decency."

"Of course", the girl- Aiko remembered now that her full name was Kotone Samesaji- nodded understandingly. "I would _never_ ask you to, Tsuruga-chan. You might have heard this before, but Koashimizu really is very strict about that kind of thing. There was a girl a few years ago who got suspended just for being caught kissing a boy in the halls!"

"That's pretty strict", she agreed wholeheartedly, wondering if perpetually grumpy Mr. Noriyama was behind that one. "I'll be careful."

None of the teachers reacted differently to her. Mr. Takao in home room was still pleasantly cheerful, Ms. Mattora in History was still awful, Mr. Noriyama in English was irritable, Mr. Wadanashi in Literature was still excitable, and Ms. Daisouji in Science still had the precocious habit of getting off on long, rambling tangents until what she was talking about only had slightest connection to the subject matter. This sudden change of opinion was in the students only, it seemed.

The other side of that change didn't come her way until later. To her disappointment, Noel was completely absent at lunch, but then her phone beeped in a different fashion from a normal call, signalling her to a text message from Reiha:

 _RH: They're starting. Kujou just got out of the nurse's office and put the word out at the meeting today._

 _RH: When you leave school and go out to the fountain today, they're going to pelt you with wet tampons they bought from the vending machines._

Aiko made a revolted face, considering her response.

 _AT: ...Creative. Anything else?_

 _RH: We're also supposed to start shitposting on the school message boards that you stuff your bra and should be punished by the school 'for public indecency'._

 _AT: And the school will let that happen?_

 _RH: That kind of stuff gets automatically flagged and deleted by the system in a day or two. Long enough for people to read it and start talking about it themselves._

 _AT: I'll be fine. Thank you for the advance warning. I'll pass it on to Mira-senpai._

The attack was directed at her, not at Mira, but Aiko knew better than to take chances. In the eyes of Benihime Kujou and those who shared her views, the two girls from room 22 were now a package deal. The last thing Aiko wanted was for Mira to face an attack meant for her. After an annoyingly long wait time, the response came back.

 _MS: I'll stay late in the sdgook library doing my homework. I need to get it done anyway. Thank you, Tsuruga-sam._

 _MS: Tsuruga-san*_

 _MS: school**_

Aiko's own method of escape was already planned out. One of the places Shukiji had shown her during their guided tour was a short staircase leading down to the soccer field. While that was no doubt a concession to the area's original geography, the actual field was quite large and flat, with wide-netted goals at both ends and white paint markings cutting through grass just as lush as what she'd seen on the cliff edge. You would have to try hard, Aiko considered, but with enough power and intent you could manage to kick a soccer ball into the water from here... although it was much more likely to hit the boys' dorm or the pool shack.

There were indeed an impressive number of boys on the field already, a smaller number of girls scattered among them or seated on the sidelines. They wore the white shirts from their school uniforms instead of jerseys, clearly having tryouts for this year's team. Aiko saw six soccer balls active, a chaotic sight that was impossible to follow all at once.

Soccer, or sports like it, had never been her interest. But it was entertaining enough to be preferable over merely retreating back to her dorm like a terrified mouse trying to avoid a storm of tampons. No one there recognized her. They were there for the tryouts, or to watch a friend try out. She took a seat far enough away that no one would look closer.

It was good, at least in Aiko's completely amateur estimation. A lot of the candidates seemed to be returning veterans from years prior, but they played like their position on the team was in severe jeopardy. Others were a bit rougher, but they all showed excellent force in their kicks and running speed, to the point where there was always at least one ball in the process of being retrieved from the nearby bushes and brought back to the field.

The exception to that was the times when a stray ball would end up right next to one of the people on the sidelines. The silent expectation was they would throw it back in, and sure enough after about half an hour one ball ended up practically landing on her lap.

"Hey. Back this way, please."

Reflex let Aiko obey automatically. It was the voice that captured her attention, and the face behind it. Like Mirambela, the voice was speaking clear and concise Japanese, but failed to hide a distinctly drawling accent behind it. The tall boy's clean-shaven features only confirmed it, with a lighter skin shade than normal except where it was smeared with mud, and a fuzzy crew cut of brown-sugar hair over bright blue eyes. He certainly had a teen athlete's build about him, though he didn't look like one of the team veterans.

"Hey. You gonna throw it back or what?"

"Uh, sorry..." Fortunately, her delay hadn't attracted any further attention to her.

"No worries", the boy shrugged nonchalantly. "You were just distracted. I _am_ pretty awesome, after all."

The boast, so easily delivered, took her a moment to dissect and determine if he was being sarcastic or not. 'You're pretty good!", she acknowledged him after sensing that he was fishing for praise. "Good luck out there!"

He gave a wide smile back, spinning around as his feet reclaimed the ball as if trying to turn it into some kind of dramatic action pose. The ball spun as well, twirling rapidly around on his finger before he dropped it. "Hey. Thanks girl, but Julian Rosea doesn't _need_ luck. I make my own."

"Jiachi! Hey, Jiachi-san! Get over here, the coach wants everyone together."

He followed the voice, bringing the ball along. But he wasn't far enough away from her for her not to hear something angry under his breath: "I _told_ you asshole, my name's Julian."

The resulting huddle wasn't nearly as interesting to watch, the portly coach too far away to hear properly, and Aiko saw several other bystanders starting to get up and leave. _That's my cue._ Maybe she would see Jiachi- or was it Julian? - play on the team later.

Meanwhile, she had killed some time, but it was better to be safe than sorry, and stick to the original plan. On the other side of the soccer field was a much longer, less-used stairway that led all the way down to the coast. An easy dirt road led back up from there to the other side of the girls' dorm, effectively bypassing any ambushes.

 _Ambushes. Right._

* * *

4/11 Thursday

After School

The journey in itself was an unexpected pleasure. Looking down on it from the cliff couldn't really capture the natural beauty of the rock formations that hung over the clean beach stretching off to the horizon, and of course it was always nice being down by the water, watching the repeated motion of the tide as it crashed against countless rocks and eclipsed the sand again and again.

 _Whoever chose to build Koashimizu academy here had excellent taste,_ she decided. All of the potential dangers were outweighed by the natural beauty.

Aiko might have enjoyed it more and maybe even gone wading if other matters didn't keep intruding on her serenity. _I escaped a battle today_ , the though intruded unbidden as she stared out at the oddly calm waters. _But how do I win the 'war'? Mira-senpai is right. Kujou won't rest until I'm miserable, and so many students here think like her, or at least they do what she says. It's awful._

She hadn't come here wanting a 'war' with half the people she wanted to be friends with. She'd come hoping to find a home better than the dead one she'd left behind. As if summoned by her thoughts, her phone beeped again, and for a third time she refused the call. _I have enough aggravation without dealing with_ her _right now. Can't even enjoy the sea._

"Ich bitte dich."

The strange, guttural words interrupted her musings, drawing her attention to the other visitor to this section of coast. They continued as she drew closer to the figure kneeling there on the beach, his arms folded over soaked knees.

"Ich bitte dich mein Gott", the boy continued on with his eyes firmly closed, and then Aiko saw that it was Noel. The hair and ponytail were unmistakable. "Bitte gib mein geliebte hause zuruck. Das ist alles, was ich von dir verlange. _Amen_."

His eyes slid open, finally registering that she was right next to him and reacting happily, though his Japanese was an obvious second language, and one he could use some more practise with. "Ah. Hello there! It's Tsuruga-san, yes? Did you come to enjoy the water as well?"

Aiko grinned and nodded, momentarily forgetting her worries as she took a seat on the sand beside him. "I _love_ the sea. I'd always go down to the beach whenever I had the chance."

"A great shame", Noel said, "that so few of the students here bother to appreciate this natural wonder, literally a mere stone's throw away from campus. I apologize if I disturbed you before. I believed I was alone."

"Not at all", she assured him. "I didn't mean to interrupt you either, Vitienne-san. If you don't mind my asking... what were you saying? You were absent from school today."

She immediately regretted the change of topic after seeing the way fear was creeping back into his winsome features. He looked and sounded like a man well-accustomed to smiling much more than he frowned, but that only made bleak despair much more noticeable on him.

"I was visiting someone", he confessed at last. "Ayano-san's parents."

"Ayano-san?" That was the girl he'd been asking about before, Ayano Furusato. "Don't tell me she's..."

"Missing", Noel nodded. "She has been missing for nearly two weeks now. Her parents reported it to the police and put up posters all over the area where they live, yet there has been no sign of her. They were so scared for her... and so _angry_. For a moment, I believed that they would blame me."

"They shouldn't", Aiko blurted without thinking. If there was one boy here she felt was trustworthy it was Noel, even more than Shukiji. "You two sound like you were close."

"We _are_ close", Noel emphasized, staring out at the endless tide in the hopes that Ayano would emerge from it. "Thus, I pray. I pray to almighty God to bring her home safely, not only for me, but for her parents and all the others who were her friends at school."

Aiko followed his gaze. She had not come out here looking to find more sadness, more sorrow, but she couldn't just ignore such a plight either. "I'm sure that she'll come home, Vitienne-kun. She must want to. She knows that there are people here who love her very much."

"How kind of you to say so", he agreed, a bit of his old spark coming back. Behind him, Aiko noticed his hair tail coming undone, but he didn't seem to care. "And... Vitienne is far too long to use casually. You may do what Ayano-san did, and call me Noel."

"It's only three syllables", Aiko protested. _Mira is one thing, but this..._ Seeing the earnestness in his expression however, she relented. It wouldn't be impolite if he _asked_ her to address him that way, right? "As you wish... Noel-kun."

He took his eyes away from the tide, slowly closing his eyes as if accepting something. " _Wunderschon_. One day soon, I will introduce you to Furusato-san. Then you two can be friends as well. Actually..."

As Aiko watched, he reached down to grab something out of his bag, producing a small red notebook that didn't look standard school issue. "Why don't I show you her right now?"

The way he held it betrayed a fear of getting it wet, and Aiko understood why once he had opened the notebook to a certain page. Both sides held pencil sketches of a small-faced girl with her hair tied into roughly tornado-shaped ringlets. The rest of her hair cascaded down without any obvious manipulation. Though it was impossible to determine the true colour, the way it had been shaded hinted at the standard black. Like her, the girl in the sketches wore a tidy Koashimizu uniform in all the ones that displayed the full body instead of merely a head.

"She's... pretty", she offered the first comment to come into her head. "You drew all these yourself?"

"Every one", Noel offered without any boast, moving one page aside to reveal more sketches. Aiko was impressed to see that not one of them could be called 'lewd' or showed Ayano in an exploitative pose. ' _Draw me like one of your'... no, wait. He's not French. He's German, right?_ She had recognized a few of his words from earlier, though not many. "Nothing compared to the beauty of the real thing, of course. I have much to learn still."

Another thought came to her then, and she leaned forward, placing one hand on the sketchbook. "Noel-kun... I've never prayed before. Can you show me how? Maybe, if both of our prayers reach God, then..."

* * *

4/11 Thursday

Evening

Mira wasn't there when Aiko finally made it back to room 22. Forcing aside any niggling worries that she might have been caught anyway, her focus turned to finishing her own assignments, discovering that even though most could be done in the dorms, some involving content beyond mere text had to be submitted online on Saturday or Sunday.

The phone beeped once she was done, and she hesitated. The same number as before. _Mom..._

Noel had seen no signs before Ayano's sudden vanishing. Without any warning, she had disappeared from the world she knew, perhaps never to return despite her earlier optimism. Someone you loved could just go away forever, never knowing that this time you spoke to them would be the last.

 _...No,_ she decided after further deliberation. Kogaya, her mother, didn't see things that way. She would simply be angry that Aiko hadn't returned her previous three calls. It was easier, far easier, to just leave a message on her machine confirming to her that Aiko was safe and settling into school at Koashimizu alright. _For a flexible definition of 'alright'. I'll just call her live on Sunday and endure through whatever she says. She can't do much to me from here except yell at me anyway._

There was the matter of Mira's first-year test results to go over, but it had been a very long day and Aiko was already feeling fatigue setting in. Fatigue... and a feeling of foreboding that made her skin prickle up. _Damn it, why can't I remember? Someone, from somewhere I can't remember, a few days back... they said that there was going to be some big trouble tomorrow. Another attack from Kujou?_

A forlorn sigh escaping her, she discarded the stack of bland papers away to be analysed another day before leaning back into her bed. There were good people at Koashimizu academy. She knew that much was true.

It was just feeling more and more like they were the eye of a storm, surrounded by hostile, chaotic waters.

* * *

A/N: Fast update this time, thanks to the luxury of a buffer. I want to get a few out fast before settling into a once a week pattern.

Too brutal? Maybe, but I did do some research on the worst examples of girl bullying, both fictional and non, before writing.


	3. Departure

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Hold onto me, as we go_

 _As we roll down this unfamiliar road_

 _And although this wave is stringing us along_

 _Just know that you're not alone_

 _'Cause I'm gonna make this place your Home_

* * *

4/12 Friday

Morning

Mirambela was not speaking to her. Not in first period, not in any period. Not in lunch. At no point in the entire school day did she acknowledge Aiko's presence, turning whenever she tried to lock eyes. Aiko would have pressed further, but wished to avoid causing a scene.

"There's some new information you don't know", she told Shukiji at lunch, trying to sound singsong teasing instead of dour. Shukiji's usual custom seemed to be eating alone. Despite being native, it seemed he was about as popular as her. "Information I could trade you."

"Sorano-san is having a fight with you about something", Shukiji said without batting an eye.

Aghast, she stared into her food for a moment to hide her disappointment. She felt like she might cry. "Yeah! Don't you wanna know what the 'something' is? _Because I sure do_! What did I do? Why isn't Mira-senpai speaking to me today?"

Though he hardly seemed sympathetic to her distress, Shukiji turned to face her. He was far from intimidating due to his being shorter than her, but his face was firm. "That information will reveal itself in due time, without my searching for it. You'll see. I bet that before the end of the day, you'll know as well. That's free, by the way. A reward for earlier."

She stared back as if she could hardly believe that this was how Shukiji had lived for a year. Possibly more years in middle school. "What happened to you, Niyoga-kun? What made you into this? Why do you _do_ this? It's not how normal kids behave!"

The small boy blinked, but it was obvious that he had heard such pleas many times before. He steeped his hands on the table, casting his lunch tray aside now that it was empty. "Oh, what a frightening prospect it must be", he mused idly. "To be 'normal'. God save me from so-called 'normalcy' As to your earlier question, that information will be very expensive even at your discount."

"Don't bother then", she conceded in defeat. There was nothing she could think of, nothing she knew that Shukiji wouldn't already have tucked away in that perfect memory of his. "I thought you were my friend."

She wasn't looking back any more, but she did sense a pause. "I _am_ your friend, Tsuruga-san. You've been given the friend discount, which I don't offer to very many people. Would you expect a shopkeeper in the city to give you things for free, just because you were their friend?"

Hastily finishing her lunch, she glared fire back. "This isn't the same. And if you can't understand the difference... then I pity you."

There was no pause this time. She only noticed how small he really seemed from across the lunch table as she departed.

* * *

4/12 Friday

Afternoon

"As you can see", Ms. Daisouji explained with the aid of the diagram on the board, propping her square-framed glasses back up as she did, "the combination of the three electron emitters for blue, red and green can be used in a cathode tube to create any number of colours you like. Derivatives of that technology can be found in every television or computer you see. It's amazing to see just how far it's come from primitive, monochrome beginnings a mere 70 years ago."

Aiko wrote carefully, trying to focus on the lecture and drown out everything else in the world. Especially the way Mira was defiantly refusing to glance her way.

It was misery. As Shukiji might have said, it was a mysterious misery. But Shukiji was right about one thing: it wouldn't last. Mira couldn't escape her forever, even if she wanted to. If _this_ was the storm of trouble on the horizon that person that she couldn't quite remember spoke of, then she could power on through it and look forward to a better day after.

For a moment, Aiko wondered if the meaning had been literal and checked the classroom windows. Clear skies, and very calm waters out there. The white-feathered bird from her first day flew past once, but nothing disturbed the sea.

The storm was not a physical one and it was not _her_ misery. It was someone else's misery, which she only became aware of at the end of the period when loud shouting reached her ears, drawing her and many others towards the nurse's office like an enchanted flute. _Attracted by misery_ , Aiko noted to herself sadly. _Other people's misery._

Then she saw it through a window, and all other thoughts, poetic or otherwise, were left behind in the dust. A heavyset nurse was already working to keep students out of the office, but she could clearly make out the sight of Noel Vitienne.

And there, among a score of faculty who must have been just as shocked as her, was the motionless, waterlogged body of a short girl with the same haircut and face from his sketchbook.

"Call the hospital", one of the nurses ordered immediately. "Tell them to hurry."

Noel was much less coherent. Only the other nurses stopped him from grabbing the body and squeezing it to bursting as he wept. "Furusato... Ayano, please... God, please...!"

Then Ms. Daisoji was there, helping to shoo the crowd away before they could see any more details. Aiko found herself being swept back out into the hall by the press of curious bodies until Noel could no longer be seen.

For a time she did nothing, unable to fully process what had just happened. _Ayano-san, who disappeared. What happened to her? Did Noel-kun find her?_

 _Wait... she was completely soaked. Dripping all over the carpet, which means...?_

She fumbled for her phone.

 _AT: They found Ayano. She's not breathing._

Reiha must have been busy, because the response didn't come for several minutes. She didn't expect any answer from Mira.

 _RH: You mean that girl who was missing? Noel's girl?_

 _AT: She was completely soaked._

 _AT: I think Noel found her on the south coast and brought her in. He was looking for her there yesterday too._

And no uniform, the thought occurred to Aiko just then. Normal clothes, some kind of dark blouse over a T-shirt. Whatever Ayano had planned for her last moments on earth, it wasn't going to school.

 _RH: I always thought that was dangerous._

 _AT: Do you think she jumped into the sea from the cliff?_

 _RH: No. There's a bunch of nets set up down there to stop people from jumping. Principal Yumika had them put in years ago. I saw the posters in the city. She's been missing since before school started._

 _AT: Going to check the coast._

* * *

4/12 Friday

After School

The south coastline greeted Aiko with a tranquillity at odds with everything else boiling in her brain. Nothing had changed. The tide still lapped in and out like clockwork, and the score of fishing boats was still nestled in the various coves that the rocks created. A faint breeze stirred up the local seagulls, but aside from that everything looked perfectly peaceful.

Something deep within Aiko disagreed with that assessment, and she squinted. _Something's here. Something that I can't see with my eyes or hear with my ears. Something in the water?_

After half an hour of wet searching, she could find nothing. "Come out", she whispered to the tide, so angry that it felt like she was shouting it. "Show yourself! Tell me what you did to Furusato-san! TELL ME!"

"That girl... was she your friend?"

Aiko turned, realizing that one of the larger fishing boats wasn't as empty as she'd thought. This one was beached further than most of them, to the point that the bow couldn't be seen in the sand. It wasn't in the best of shape either, dark paint chipping off the hull in multiple places and the sails showing signs of wear and tear.

More important was the man who had called out to her, standing on the deck of what she presumed was his boat. He was certainly dressed the part, wearing a thick white jacket and undershirt. More telling was his red-white naval style cap and the prominent handlebar mustache stretching out almost to the extremes of the man's face, ashen gray like the rest of his head hair and a brief stripe of beard going down to his collar.

"No", she admitted finally. "We never met. But she was Noel-kun's friend. Now she's not breathing." She could even hear the approaching ambulance sirens if she listened closely.

The bearded man nodded sadly, olive mottled skin and dusty gray beard swaying with him. "I see. He was the one who came earlier then, and spotted the body. I'm sorry. If I'd been watching the shore, she might have gotten help earlier."

"It's not your fault", Aiko told him confidently. Noel had likely gone down to the shore during lunchtime, and spotted Ayano face down in the surf there. She wouldn't be at all surprise to find Noel taking another absence tomorrow. Logic dictated that his presence at Tosashimizu general hospital wouldn't increase the likelihood of Ayano's survival, but the heart wasn't logical. "She was missing for days before this."

"It broke my heart to see it", he said. "Lucky that boy came along when he did. Love is truly a precious and unique thing among youngsters."

Under other circumstances, she might have harped on him for saying something so trite, but tragedy had numbed her sense of sarcasm. She could only imagine what Noel was going through in his own mind.

"Wait.. may I see your pin, miss?"

"Hm?"

He made an inviting gesture towards his boat. "Your hairpin. It looks... familiar. Come aboard, miss. I won't bite."

The fisher's last words brought to Aiko's mind the danger she was in if this man wasn't sincere. She wasn't sure of the likelihood of the local fishermen or mariners suddenly turning into criminals, but this man's sheer physicality in spite of his age reminded her that if he was so inclined, he could probably knock her out with one good punch and toss her overboard into the same fate as Ayano.

Instinct, the thing that had brought her here to start with, said that he was fine. Weighed down by age perhaps, and more used to dealing with seas than people. _Not unlike me, really. I'll give him a chance._

Her re-shoed feet made a hollow noise as they touched down on the boat's wooden deck, and the fisher offered her his large hand daintily, as if he was welcoming her to a grand gala aboard a yacht instead of just the two of them. "Welcome aboard the Fiddler's Green, madame", he announced half-jokingly. "I'm Captain Tongwa Byzael. I'd offer you something to drink if you weren't underage."

"I'm not thirsty", she said, taking in more of the ship's decor as she spoke. "I did just get out of the water."

"You swam well for one your age", the captain agreed, a strange note of pride in his voice. "May I see your hairpin, miss?"

Again she hesitated, and again instinct prevailed. She reached back into her hair to pluck the pin, finding it healthy as ever after her dip in the surf. "I'm Aiko Tsuruga. And please be careful with it. It's my most treasured possession."

Byzael did indeed treat the ruby pin with the utmost caution, bringing it to a covered table near the rear deck before beginning to turn it over in his weathered hands. Aiko watched with a strange anticipation, wondering if this man would be able to glean from it the message that, to her reckoning, only she understood.

There was no lettering on the metal around the ruby. No painted runes or characters like the ones she now spotted running along the port side identifying Byzael's ship as the 'Fiddler's Green'. The message only came when she was holding the pin herself, hands clasped around the ruby. It was nothing but a simple instruction. _Keep your way._

"So", the captain remarked softly just when Aiko began to fear he had fallen asleep. "You're... this is quite a nice treasure you have here, miss Tsuruga. Worth a lot of yen, I'd wager. Your parents give this to you?"

"My father", she said, knowing the details didn't matter. "But he's gone now."

Byzael stood gravely, returning the hairpin before travelling back to the side rail. "It must've been difficult for you, growing up like that. Your father is supposed to teach you the things you need to know to survive where you're headed. Mine taught me how to sail, and how to fish. Even after everything else fell apart, I still had that."

"You're pretty far in", Aiko remarked, joining him at the rail where the Green's stern hit the tide. "How often do you go out on the water?"

"Not as much as I'd like to any more", the captain admitted gently. "But this is a tough old beauty. She'll more than likely outlive me. I've sailed the world, you know. I've seen things on distant shores that no one in this land could conceive of. Now, it seems all anyone wants to do is make their world smaller instead of larger."

"Not everyone in this country thinks like the JCAP", Aiko piped up quickly. "In fact, I'd say they're the minority."

"They're a very _loud_ minority", the captain put a hand to his ear in mockery. "Putting extra tariffs on people shipping food to other countries in need of it... bah! I'll do what I want with _my_ fish, thank you very much."

Aiko chuckled at that. She couldn't help it. There was something so anachronistic and disarming about this man that trust came naturally. It might have had something to do with his occupation. "You're living my dream, captain", she told him quietly. "I always wanted to have a ship like this, and just go wherever the wind takes me."

"Is that so?" The captain turned, taking a sweep of the rest of the deck before returning to her. "It's not too late, you know."

Aiko paused, looking back at the interesting markings on the captain's jacket. "Huh?"

Now Byzael led her out to the very tip of the ship, the part that was the most buried in the sand. Because of that, it was also the highest up, and by turning around they could see past the main mast to the entire coastline.

"I told you before", he began carefully. "This ship will outlive me. Without me, she'll end up a derelict, slowly rotting away on the shore until she's just a skeleton of rotten timber. No one else in the country wants her. They'll go spend hundreds of millions of yen on the fancy metal tubs without any personality to 'em. But you..."

Aiko stared across the bow, hardly believing what she was hearing. "But... I'm a high school student, Mr. Byzael. I don't have any money to give you. Not very much anyway."

But the captain simply withdrew an unusually thin cigar from a pocket on the inside of his jacket, lighting it with a tool in the other pocket.

"Keep your money, miss Tsuruga. I'm talking about proving yourself a worthy heir to the ship that I called my home for decades. Come to me on this beach after you're done school, whenever you can. I'll show you how to sail her properly, and when you've shown me that you can do it... then the Fiddler's Green _will_ belong to you. I promise you."

It sounded too good to be true. She didn't care. She was suddenly examining every rusty bolt and board of the boat with renewed interest, a lifelong dream long discarded, suddenly lying on the threshold of realisation. Quite suddenly, she realised she was blushing just as much as she had in the school lobby during room assignments. "You.. you're not teasing me, are you? Everyone says that girls are bad sailors."

Byzael let out a loud guffaw and extinguished his pipe. "Superstition, missy, nothing more. If you can do everything I ask of you, then you'll be just as fine a captain as I, if not better. The choice is yours."

Consideration only took a moment more. Even if this _was_ a scam, even if legal ownership of the Fiddler's Green was merely a carrot on a stick that he was dangling before her, the chance to learn real lessons in sailing instead of swimming would be a valuable stepping stone towards her dreams.

"I agree", she reached out to take his hand, shaking it with all her might. "Show me how to sail, and I'll take good care of it when..."

But he took no notice of her voice trailing off into sorrow at the prospect of his death. "Wonderful. Now we have a binding contract, you and I. But that can wait. The hour's late, and you've got more to do first. I'll be waiting here when you're ready."

He wasn't wrong, Aiko realized with a start. The sun was already falling into the horizon, casting bright orange light along the Fiddler's sails. Stepping back into the sand with a short leap, she turned back and smiled. "I will. And... _thank you_ , Captain Byzael."

* * *

4/12 Friday

Evening

Encountering Byzael had been an interesting experience, but it had only distracted Aiko from the day's other events for so long. Nothing further could be done about Ayano and Noel yet, but she steeled her jaw before charging into dorm room 22.

Mira was in there, writing something in a school notebook until she heard the door crack open, at which point she withdrew from the center of the room to her bed. _Not even trying to hide it. No... it just isn't her nature to hide her feelings._

"Mira-senpai. I don't know what I did to make you so angry, but I'm sorry."

Mira said something back to her, but it was so quiet that Aiko had to nearly get onto her bed before she could hear it. "Sorry?", she heard at last, though despite a lack of volume the word carried a bitterness she had never heard her roommate deliver before now. "You... you say you're sorry for something that you don't even know about? An apology from you must really be worth a lot then. Just like everyone else who says sorry to me like it's a damn _greeting_."

Aiko flinched back at the venom in her words, still not comprehending. "Then... please, tell me."

Mirambela didn't tell her at first. She showed her, raising a seemingly innocuous sheet of paper that Aiko quickly recognized as Shukiji's printout of Mira's first-year grades.

"You thought this would be a laugh, didn't you? So you could go over all my failures, and see just how stupid I am? Isn't just _hilarious_?!"

The truth felt like it was crushing Aiko into the floor, into the room below theirs, and she could think of nothing to say before Mira ripped the paper in two and cast it down on the floor.

"Enjoy your laugh. Laugh at the stupid backwards _gaijin_ who believed the new girl was trying to help her get better. There's _one_ lesson I won't forget."

Sh couldn't even look at Mira any more. The anger in her eyes was too forward, too accusatory, and to behold it brought more tears to her eyes. "M-Mira senpai, please... I wasn't going to laugh at you. I just wanted to-"

"To show everyone this?", Mira asked mock-sweetly, lowering her eyes behind the notebook so that Aiko could actually look up. "Well done. I'm sure Kujou really appreciates being able to remind me, along with everyone else, of _every single assignment and test_ I did poorly on last year."

 _No... I had Shu-kun print a copy... but if someone else paid him for the same information and spread it around...!_ "Ah... Mira-senpai, I'm... I'm so, so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen!"

Spinning around, her roommate faced the opposite wall, eyes trying to bury themselves anew in a textbook. "Get off my bed. You're unbalancing me."

Aiko did as she was told, but it still smelled like the storm of Mira's anger was raging invisibly through the dorm room, threatening to consume her. Her own guilt was doing a fine job of that already.

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to help..."

For one blissful moment, the storm seemed to fade. Mira twisted around, her eyes locking into Aiko's. But she found no warmth there. Not anymore. Instead, it sounded as though Mira was the one crying now.

"That's what everyone says to me, thinking two words will fix everything. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, **SORRY**. _That's_ your problem, Tsuruga-san. You think you can just be so polite and cheerful and nice to everyone, and everyone will smile and be your friend. Maybe that was the case at your middle school, but didn't I already warn you about this place? About me?"

Aiko stood before her in mental agony. She couldn't speak, or even make any noise.

Nodding, Mira snapped her book shut, casually tossing a few of them into a bag that she slung over her shoulder. "Your fault for not listening."

Without another word or gesture, Mira was gone out the door. Aiko found herself standing on top of one of the torn bits of paper, one shoe heavily stamping down on it as though everything that had just happened was its fault.

 _It wasn't. It was my fault. All my fault, for not being careful with this paper._

Useless.

 _Useless. Just like always._

Then she was falling, slowly as if in a dream. Hitting her mattress didn't cure the horrible sensations in her gut and head however. If anything, they got worse.

She couldn't concentrate on reading or eating. She could only think to sleep. Even that proved impossible, and she merely ended up sobbing into her pillow, all focus on goals of any level abandoned to sorrow.

 _Who am I? Not the daughter of the sea. That's just some stupid fairy tale I dreamed up in place of a father. Not a student at this academy, not really. Not my mother's daughter. A real daughter would have had the guts to call her back by now._

 _Not Mira's friend. Not anymore._

 _So then... who am I? **Who?**_

 _Why was I born?_

The night held no answers, and it took hours before the mercy of the unconscious void reached her.

* * *

4/13 Saturday

Morning

With everything else that had been going on, it seemed ridiculous to Aiko that she still had to worry about homework assignments being submitted today. Of course, the faculty didn't know half of what had transpired. Maybe they didn't care. Maybe this was just how hectic high school was supposed to be.

They certainly knew about the week's biggest incident. Principal Yumika was quick to offer a reward over the PA to anyone willing to come forward with information regarding the disappearance- and now near-death- of Ayano Furusato. The shore where Noel indicated she had washed up had become a crime scene blockaded by yellow tape stretched between the natural rock arches.

Of Noel, there was no sign.

Mirambela continued her stone wall treatment throughout the opening periods, putting an end to Aiko's hopes that knowing the reason why might make it better between them.

If anything it was worse, knowing it was her own fault. There was the temptation to confront Shukiji about it and blame him, but she just didn't have the energy for it. There were other things, normal school things that she'd expected to have to deal with, that could occupy her time.

Even a text message was a welcome respite from the tumult of her own thoughts at this point.

 _RH: You heard? Vitienne went to the hospital with Furusato._

 _AT: I thought he would. He looked terrible. Boys look awful when they cry IMO_

 _RH: How about you? I know Noel-kun was your friend._

 _AT: ...Not really. We just met._

 _RH: He's easy to get along with. I like him, just wish he'd stand up for himself more._

 _AT: Hey... do know a Jiachi?_

 _RH: Rosea, right? Second-year? Yeah, I know him. He's pretty visible._

 _AT: What classroom is he in?_

 _RH: ...2-A, I think. You sure? He's not really your type._

Aiko didn't really care about that. She just wanted someone familiar to talk with, and Kotone was busy chatting with some students she didn't know. Luckily, Reiha's guess was spot on when she checked during lunch, spotting his extremely short skullcap of brown hair through a window.

He didn't look quite as fired up as he'd been on the soccer field, and it was easy to see that some of the students there were giving him the same unwritten shunning as they did to Mirambela. A blank notebook was open on the desk in front of him, and he was twirling his pencil instead of writing with it.

Aiko stopped and stared, recognizing as she drew closer a level of dexterity in that twirling not often seen outside of a performers' troupe. He was somehow able to keep it spinning on two fingers without any sign of falling, then taking it into three fingers and spinning it around to his other hand without losing any momentum, only stopping and smiling when he saw her.

"Hey there, the girl from the tryouts, right? Come to ask my autograph?"

Aiko smiled back and nodded. "I'm surprised you recognized me. Sorry I couldn't catch the rest. How did it go?"

Jiachi dropped his pencil onto the desk, making it look like a deliberate motion. "Eh... could be better. I'm not a shoe-in just yet, amazingly. Tryouts? More like cry outs. Hey... you're not interested, are ya? I'd like having you on the team."

She shrugged. "Not really my thing. I'd be signing up for the swim team except... you know."

Jiachi rolled his eyes. "I know. This school can't even finish things it puts on the brochure. Yumika might look cool, but he's all bark. Just a pretty face."

"Um... I'm Aiko Tsuruga. Nice to meet you, Jiachi-senpai."

She was surprised to see his face slacken at her words, recovering after a moment and extending a well-muscled arm. "Hey, nice to meet you too, Tsuruga-san. But... If we're gonna be good buddies, then you need to call me _Julian_. People just call me Jiachi to annoy me. Or y'know, just use my last name if you want. That's how you do it here, right? It's Rosea."

"Rosea-kun", Aiko corrected herself as she shook his hand, wanting to avoid confusion. Everyone else in the class called him Jiachi or Rosea, never Julian.

"Anyways, you might want to think about it. There aren't many other teams around this dump for you. There's soccer and volleyball, and the shogi and drama clubs... and that's about it really. Pretty weak."

Remembering another poster she'd seen on the bulletin board, Aiko blinked. "What about the fencing club?"

Overhearing her, another student laughed and Julian nodded. "More false advertising. Nobody ever signs up for the fencing club. Technically, Umaeda-sensei runs it, but no one's joined it for years. He's probably given up by now. Poor old dude." Realizing that his featured had unconsciously slid into an expression of sympathy for a _teacher_ , Julian quickly corrected himself, reverting to typical nonchalance. "I-I mean, _whatever_."

"But someone could still sign up", Aiko argued back, feeling disheartened after hearing another hard lucky story from Koashimizu.

He shrugged. "Someone could. They'd be all alone though, and clubs can't run if they don't have at least four students showing interest. Otherwise, they don't consider it worth the teacher's time."

"You might want to think about it", Aiko echoed his earlier words. "I saw you before. That's quite a trick, Rosea-kun."

Breaking the veil, he smirked back. "I know. Just the tip of my iceberg of awesomosity, but fencing isn't really my thing. Besides, I'm already a shoe-in for the soccer team. No coach in his right mind would turn me down."

Those words drew a soft chuckle from another student, an older-looking boy. "Just like last year, eh Jiachi-san?"

It seemed like an offhanded remark, but Aiko actually took a step back when he saw the change that had suddenly come over Julian. His face had slid into an expression of suffused rage, his lips stretched wide, and he seemed to be vibrating before he got it under control, his hands moving back to the pencil on his desk and spinning it on a single upraised finger.

"I know _other_ pencil tricks, Mayakura-san. Would you like to see one?"

But the one who had taunted him ignored him, returning his attention to his notebook. The others in the room seemed to be following suit, and Aiko could feel the shift of momentum in the room moving away from idle chat and back to schoolwork even if the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Julian- or was it Jiachi after all?- waved one last time to her and she took the hint, returning to her own room for the time being.

* * *

4/13 Saturday

After School

Aiko stared helplessly at the door to Mr. Umaeda's room on the 3rd floor and cursed herself. _Just walk in. Just knock on the door. He's in there. You saw him go in. Just..._

She turned around and began walking the other way.

It wasn't because she found Mr. Umaeda scary. He was likely the oldest teacher in the school, wearing a healthy beard of white and extremely weathered skin with an ominously large liver spot, but he wasn't grumpy like Noriyama or Mattora. He did exactly what was expected from his job without adding any personal comments to the material. The only thing scary about him was just how sore and weak his voice sounded sometimes, which at first made her fear that he was about to keel over in front of them.

It wasn't him. It was her. Mira's words from last night kept flashing into her mind, and every time they did she found herself a bit further away from the door to the club she'd wanted to join.

 _You think you can just be so polite and cheerful and nice to everyone, and everyone will smile and be your friend?_

 _But what can I offer them, really? A smiling face and someone to be sympathetic?_

 _Anyone could do that. Really, I'm about as helpful as a cat poster._

The hushed static chatter of passerby mingled with these thoughts now, only adding to her dismay.

"-does she think she is, talking back to-"

"-that bastard Noriyama gave me extra-"

"-prolly gonna go shopping tonight to get some-"

"-dad said I better study up or he'd take away my Playstation-"

"-doesn't belong in this place, does she?"

Koashimizu academy felt like an entirely different place than was she was used to. Kujou hadn't been wrong about that, at least. It was like she could feel the weight of the place and its people pressing down on her from everywhere at once as she walked the corridor back to her locker, like the academy was itself a living creature forcing out a foreign object that it couldn't digest, erasing whatever minimal gains she had made.

 _That's all I can do. Just smile and apologize and look pretty. I can't fight this place. It's too big. I'm... useless._

Her locker was halfway open when she heard a shout reminding her of one person here who had it worse, breaking away the chains of self-pity in an instant. Almost without realizing it, she was running, searching out the sound and finding it in the school library.

It was Mira. About half the students there had already departed, but the ones who had lingered were sticking around to see her outburst directed at a teacher, the drawn black hair of Mr. Takao poking over the crowd. Aiko also saw, to her dismay, that Ms. Mattora was also standing near him.

Seeing that many tears on anyone's face made her uncomfortable. And this face was her roommate, and the person she'd promised to help.

"I"m so sorry, miss Sorano", Mr. Takao was saying. "But the numbers don't lie. That was why I called you in here. Didn't you say to me on the first day that you wanted to do better after last year? I promised I would help you with that goal."

"Maybe he heard it wrong with her accent", Aiko heard one girl remark from too far away for the teachers to hear. "Maybe she told him she wanted to get _worse_."

"Or maybe she thinks that lower numbers are better", another seconded. Aiko had no time to glare at them. It wouldn't help anyway.

"That's why I wanted to talk with you about this first week's assignments", Mr. Takao continued, oblivious to the byplay. "You've managed to do well on the pop quizzes, but we have no records of your submitted assignments for this week. Any of them. I noticed that all the teachers were grading them 0 for you, and I asked them why."

"That's impossible", Mira said brokenly. "I sent them all last night! You should have gotten them!"

Ms. Mattora shook her elegant head. "I'm afraid we have not received them, Ms. Sorano. Takao-sensei made sure to speak with all of you teachers about this. Our addresses are printed on the backs of the assignment outlines. Are you certain that you used the correct addresses?"

Mira spun around to lean on a chair, unable to face Mattora directly any more just as Aiko had been with her last night. "Maybe... Then I can submit them again, right? I'll make absolutely sure this time."

"You can", Mr. Takao said even though Mattora looked like she wanted to protest. "In fact, let's do that right now to make sure. I'll help you."

He moved aside, gesturing to one of the computers in the library used for schoolwork. As expected, they had some fairly severe blocking programs on them which prevented their use for much beyond that. Aiko had used them herself several times to create and submit assignments already, but never with a captive audience.

Whether it was because of that audience or anxiousness over the situation, Mira took several tries to log on correctly, and with every mistake Aiko felt the air growing thicker and her friend's tension building.

Finally, there was the gray-blue panel of the program used to save assignments to the school servers. Aiko knew it, as did every student there, yet several of them gasped at what they saw.

It was completely blank.

Noise erupted from everywhere, too chaotic and disparate to pin down as primarily coming from Mira until Mr. Takao moved beside her to look closer, taking the mouse from her and checking the junk bin and records as well.

"Perhaps there's been a mistake", he announced after a moment, aware as anyone what an awful spectacle this had turned into. "Maybe you logged into the wrong account?"

 _Senpai... no..._

Ms. Mattora stepped towards him... and shook her head dismissively. "Takao-sensei, I'm impressed that you would go so far to make excuses for this one. You can see her name clearly at the top of the screen. This is the only account that Ms. Sorano is capable of accessing. You remember her from last year, don't you?"

Mr. Takao stood, and the crowd's chatter only intensified. A confrontation between students was one thing, but it sounded like they were hoping for something to happen between the homeroom teacher and history teacher.

If so, they would be disappointed. Mr. Takao merely shook his head. "I do remember. She came to me at the start of this year, asking for my help, to make sure she wasn't held back again... but..."

"How noble", she replied drily, glancing at Mira's distraught face. "Though it's not exactly proper for the homeroom teacher to focus attention on a single student for tutoring. Sadly, there is only so much that even you can do. Some students... are simply beyond help."

What happened next was difficult to follow. Aiko was being blocked by a tall student's backpack when she heard something that reminded her of the noise she'd heard when a cat had been run over near her house, followed by a crash. It was only seeing the way she was standing up in front of the two teachers that Aiko realized Mira had made the sound.

Tears had been gathering for the entire spectacle and now streaked her face, but her next words were more angry than sad.

" **Damn you. Damn this place."**

Then she was running, students who were themselves frightened now parting, allowing her escape the library before Mr. Takao could say anything to stop her. Aiko only realized then that he was standing next to a monitor that had been grabbed, ripped out and thrown violently into the wall. It had not shattered, but several wires were dangling from it.

For a moment, Mr. Takao looked like he was about to rise and go after Mira, but then he knelt back down and stared hard into the carpet. Now that the 'show' was over, the crowd began to disperse back into twos and threes, all gossiping madly about what they had just seen.

"I don't understand", her homeroom teacher said to no one. "She said she would try her best, and I helped her. I believed her."

His fellow teacher sighed in something like pity, putting a long-nailed hand to his shoulder. "You did your best, Takao-sensei. That's all that anyone can do for these foolish children."

Aiko stared at them, feeling the aggression she had initially felt seeing the way Mattora was behaving start to bleed away as quickly as it had come. Something about Mira's violence had killed her appetite for more of it, and it would help no one.

Maybe following after her friend wouldn't help anyone either. There was only one way to find out.

She ran.

* * *

4/13 Saturday

After School

The sights from outside Koashimizu's main building flashed past Aiko as she sprinted. The peach tree, the milling students, the girl's dorms... they were all minor distractions from the main objective now. Mira had a good lead on her and for a moment she was lost, but then the saker falcon from before glided over her head and she decided to gamble, following after it.

 _I'm so totally out of shape_ , she reprimanded herself as the strain began to take hold of her legs before she even reached the coast down the hill from the peach tree. Mirambela was more athletic and had longer legs. _If I'm ever going to really run the Fiddler's Green as Byzael promised, then I'll need to get way stronger._

The boat in question wasn't there today, only a few smaller fishing boats she didn't recognize. She figured that they had been scared off by the police signs warning them that Ayano Furusato's body had been found on these very shores. That would have been enough to stop most people from wandering further along the coastline.

Aiko saw one pair of footprints in the sand, travelling beneath the sign. Only one, before her own pair was laid alongside it.

She found both Mira and the falcon at a round inlet about half a kilometre's run from the hill. It cupped the calm ocean waters in a scoop that seemed shallow, but just a few meters in you would lose the sight of the sand beneath the water, indicating a sudden drop. The bird was perched atop a rock embedded in the beach, while Mira was merely standing in the surf with her back to Aiko, facing towards the sun.

 _The sun..._ Aiko cursed under her breath- she hadn't realized it was so late. The _sun_ had already become a blazing orange and began to settle down towards the infinite horizon of water. That water did not stir, and that was what truly set her on edge, made her realize that _this was not normal_.

Because the wind that was billowing around them and ruffling their student uniforms now couldn't possibly fail to produce waves, and yet here it had.

Then Mirambela took a step forward, and another. She was already halfway in.

"MIRA!", Aiko shouted over the wind that seemed oddly determined to block out her words. "Mira! Senpai, _please!_ Come back with me! It'll be alright!"

For a moment's relief, Mira did turn. Her gaunt, cheekboned face was still mostly the same as it had been in the library, save for the contrastingly serene smile on it now. "I know, Tsuruga-san. It'll be alright. I'm going to a better place now. Don't be sad. You don't have to worry about me now. No one has to worry."

She worried. No one in their right mind wouldn't worry about the way her friend was so sanguine about walking into an evening tide without a care, not concerned in the slightest about the way the wind was picking up or how her skirt would drag her down.

Still, Aiko held on to hope, and braced herself to lunge out into the water as well. She was an expert swimmer, and she could easily picture herself being able to haul two people out of the water if needed. She didn't want to believe that she was seeing her friend do such a terrible thing, but at the same time, it was entirely possible to save her if needed.

Then the last orange glow of the sun hit the water, and everything changed.

The wind grew from a brisk pressure into a howl screaming with the anguish that Mirambela couldn't with her human lungs. As Aiko ran to catch up, she sensed the way that it was centered around a specific point out on the water, the same point that her roommate was wading towards.

As she studied the waters, she could see the orange sunlight gathering as well, a single shaft of light sloped in ways that should not be possible extending from the sun's glow across the sea to reach Mira.

The light did not engulf her. It stopped just short, the water that reflected it swirling about with the newly intensified wind until the orange radiance itself had been stirred up with it. The water subsided, eventually succumbing to physics, but the light did _not_. It remained there suspended in the air, slowly forming into a square above Mira's head before extending downwards into a shining vertical rectangle.

The rectangle hurt to look at. It wasn't as harshly orange as the afternoon light which had created it, but instead seemed to overload the colour spectrum. Every time Aiko was forced to move her eyes away from the radiance and regain her sight, a slightly different colour was left behind within her short-term memory, though the dominant one was an azure, unnatural green.

Mirambela didn't seem to have that problem. The green(?) rectangle shone into her eager eyes but did nothing to blind her. She smiled like a newborn child in the arms of a loving mother, and began to march the final steps up to it across the bay floor.

"Mira, stop! MIRAAAA!"

Aiko was five paces away before Mira's tall shape disappeared into the green. It was only then that she realized that the 'door' was doing more than simply appearing from the dying sun's light to accept any who wished to enter it.

It was creating _pressure_. A strong current in the water that drew all in the bay towards it, a passable impression of a black hole. Frantically turning around, Aiko began to paddle backwards, but it was too late and the current too strong to resist with her tired arms and legs.

As a last effort, instead of screaming she took a deep breath and plunged beneath the surface to avoid it, but the door extended down there as well, continuing to draw water inwards like a pump. Then the light was upon her as well, and she could only close her eyes to avoid being blinded. The sensation of being pulled along by a current continued to grow stronger, the rush of the water pounding at her ears until it vanished.

Only for everything, even her own thoughts, to be pushed away into insignificance by a clear, strangely melodious voice that eclipsed all five senses, the very _sensation_ of it vibrating through her skin as if speaking directly into her innermost soul. As though it used her own thoughts to speak.

 _ **Welcome, humans. Welcome to where time stands still. Welcome to your future, where ye shall Become As Gods.**_

 _ **Welcome... to my HOME.**_

* * *

o


	4. The Land Beyond the Setting Sun

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/13 Saturday

After School

 _In you and I,_

 _There's a new land..._

Ai.

Ai, wake up.

You're late for school, you have to wake up.

Wake-

"-there? My... lady?"

The repeated sensation of a tide lapping over her, then retreating to do it again, wasn't what woke her. That was a familiar, almost comforting sensation. A natural metronome that filled her ears with the gentle crashing of waves. One could go to sleep to such a rhythm, and some frequently did. To her, it was more welcome than any lullaby. The sea was where she found peace.

The problem was that she couldn't quite remember what had led up to her washing onto this beach. Or where the beach was.

"My lady?"

Aiko stood. The voice calling to her, though unfamiliar, helped her rise faster even if she couldn't yet determine exactly where it was coming from or where she was. It was definitely a beach, but it didn't feel like Tosashimizu's southern coast.

"Thank goodness, I was worried for a moment that I was too late. You must be careful. This is a dangerous place."

Finally, her senses recovered enough to pinpoint the source of the strange voice. It didn't fit anyone she had ever heard before, sounding if anything like an overly dignified butler. That didn't match the speaker's shape though.

Then again, she wasn't exactly sure what kind of voice would match what she was looking at now.

It wasn't human, that much was obvious. It was a humanoid shape of average height, but the entire figure was coated in a suit of flowy, form-fitting silver armour that shone with the orange sunlight overhead. His arms and legs alike covered in segmented greaves that looked like metal talons. The chest piece was swept back and wider than it could be on a human. His helmet distinguished itself with a massive faceplate like a hooked beak, and side-mounted eyes like... _Like a bird. Is he...?_

The massive round eyes on the side of the creature's helmet focused up, furtively scanning the shoreline for possible threats, the beak opening as it spoke. "This is someone else's Land, my lady. But if we must proceed, then so be it." She noticed just now that the thing also bore a large broadsword in its left talon with a sheath at its hips, and a large wing-shaped shield in its right, all made from the same gleaming metal.

"Are you...", she hesitated, knowing full well how ridiculous this question sounded. "Are you that falcon from before?"

Beaks could not smile, but the creature's eyes slid back in the approximation of one. "But of course! I couldn't just sit back and let those awful harpies threaten your dignity, my lady. I am your sworn protector, after all."

"My sworn protector? Who are you?"

A bit miffed-seeming, the strange bird-knight puffed up his gleaming chest in pride. "Hmph. I am Sir Pelagio. And as I said, I am your sworn protector. I saw you venturing into the gate to Faraway Lands, so of course I had to follow you."

"Far away lands?" The bird-thing was making _some_ sense, just not enough for her liking. "But I didn't go anywhere. All I did was..."

Her last moments of consciousness before this caught up then, remembering chasing Mira down to the Yume Bay... and what had followed. _The door made of the sun's last light, the green flash, the whirlpool..._

 _That voice._

"You chased that other girl through the gate to Faraway Lands", Pelagio explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Two words, not three. That is important. Faraway Lands. The dimension where human dreams are realized. Forgive my curiosity my lady, but what _do_ they teach you in school these days when you're not being attacked by vicious harpies?"

"Nothing about this", she promised shakily, the bird-thing's words prompting her to look around and confirm her suspicions.

After just a minute's examination, she decided the bird-knight-thing was probably right. This was a place like nothing she'd imagined could exist on Earth.

To her left was a long shoreline of dull gray sand, the most familiar part. The sea beyond that looked mostly the same, except for the texture. The vast stretch of rippling water beyond it was completely black instead of blue. Even more reflective than normal water, it was lit up by collections of stars and nebulae that she saw nothing of in the sky above it. That sky was a cast of pitch black as well, though stencilled with orange afternoon light arranged into massively intricate patterns spanning the entire sky which no star could ever create. If they were letters or numbers, she couldn't say.

 _It's like space... in the sea. It's a space-sea._ She could make out the shapes of a few other islands around, but they were all too far away to make out clearly.

But it was the content of this large island spread before them that made Aiko seriously wonder if she'd merely hit her head while chasing Mira and was now having the most bizarre dream of her life, even by her standards. The beach quickly tapered off into a flat sheet of metal just ten feet ahead of them, continuing on into the place's main structure.

Aiko wasn't even sure if she could call it a city. It had thousands of lights gleaming from its spires and bulb-shaped windows that outshone the late afternoon sun, but no city would have all its structures be so round and small, the largest being a mere thirty feet in diameter. It reminded her more of a forest. A giant, tightly-packed metal forest.

But if it was indeed that, then it was also more high-tech looking than any city she'd seen, including fiction. Every 'tree' held collections of complicated looking circuitry and switches, decorated with buttons of every colour and shape. The 'branches' connecting the trees were strong-looking metal pipes that periodically glowed. She could even see signs of activity further on into the place, though none of it human unless humans could fly in this 'Faraway Lands' place. On a whim, she tried leaping into the air and was disappointed.

"What... what is this place?"

Sensing her worry, Pelagio stepped between her and the metal forest. "You were chasing your friend, yes? She went through the gate. I'd say this is her Land."

"Her Land?", Aiko echoed, thinking that saying the words out loud would have them make more sense. They didn't. "This is Mira-senpai's Land?"

Pelagio nodded, his beak tapping his chest plate as he did. "So her name is Mira? Yes. This is Mira's Land, the world where all of her deepest desires are granted."

That didn't sound so bad to Aiko, but it definitely clashed with how imposing some of these 30th-century-looking spires were starting to look. _I thought a world that granted your wishes would be a lot prettier than this. I mean, I guess it_ is _kind of pretty with all those fancy lights on, but..._

"So Mira-senpai is in here, then?"

"A valid assumption", Pelagio confirmed. "This Land exists solely for her pleasure, after all."

Which thankfully settled the question of what she had to do next, pressing her lips into a resolute line. "Then I have to find her."

Pelagio regarded her carefully, putting his sword into a sheath at his waist. "It is a dangerous place", he repeated. "But my lady is courageous. I shall protect you from whatever may come."

That was actually more of a confidence booster than it sounded. Whatever the bird-knight might also be, his stern dedication was reassuring, particularly if this really was the same white-feathered saker falcon who had saved her from Kujou's gang days ago. _If not, how would he know about it? Questions can wait for later._

Playing along, Aiko gave a small curtsy with her uniform's skirt and laughed at his antics. "I appreciate it, Pelagio-san."

For the first time however, the bird-knight looked less than pleased. "Hmph. Please, my lady. I humbly ask that you call me sir Pelagio."

"Very well", she accepted. "Thank you for accompanying me, sir Pelagio."

That simple concession was enough to restore his mood and he pointed with his free talon. "Onwards then. To Mira's Land."

"To Mira's Land", Aiko agreed, facing the metal forest with new resolve. _Into the woods, it's time to go._

 _It may be all in vain, I know..._

* * *

Pelagio didn't react to it much, but to Aiko the 'Land' only got weirder as they walked further in. The floor began to drop out soon after, to be replaced by a twelve foot wide walkway, stretched out over the valley that quickly became a dark chasm concealing the bases of the 'trees'.

The walkway split often, quickly becoming a vertical maze leading to various openings on each 'tree'. More helpfully, many of the walkways actually had built-in conveyor belts that took them forward without needing to walk. Each one was also protected by fields of shimmering violet energy 4 feet tall on both sides, making it impossible to fall off unless you were trying.

It was around that time that Aiko became aware of the bustling denizens of Mira's Land. More dramatic of the two kinds were the robots of various shapes and sizes, ranging from simple disks to half-bipeds, all glowing with the same electronic light. Most of them were flying around the place at impressive speeds, operating the various switches and contraptions on the trees without a single wasted movement. Others shared the walkways, trundling along on wheels or small purple hazes that allowed them to float inches off the ground.

Less common were actual humans, though none of them seemed to care about Aiko or Pelagio much. Man and woman alike were all dressed in spiffy-looking multicoloured shirts and gowns, commonly decorated with wide rings or ovals near the neck, wrists and waist. After seeing a few of these types, she worked up the courage to speak to them.

"Excuse me", she called to out one attractive-looking couple sharing the same conveyor belt walkway as her. "I'm looking for Mirambela Sorano. Have you seen her?"

The woman pushed aside a voluminous red hairspray mod haircut and laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, of course! Everyone here would love to visit Princess Mira. Let me guess... you want to get her autograph on something?"

"She really is amazing", the black-haired man with her followed up, pointing at the tallest and widest 'tree' in the Land. "The greatest genius in the world... she spends most of her time in the central spire, coming up with new inventions to make our lives better. You probably won't be able to get in though."

Aiko stared at the huge spire extending to the heavens, noticing only now that the highest concentration of the flying robots was around there. "Why not?"

The lady shrugged as if the answer was obvious. "As I said, everyone would love to be able to visit our dear princess Mira whenever they want, but her time is valuable. If she's busy, then the sentry robots won't let you in. Be careful now, dearie... if you try to force your way in, the sentries might just cast you down like you were common filth!"

"I'm a friend of Mira-senpai", Aiko said confidently, trying to push aside memories of their last few interactions. "I'm sure she'll have time for me."

"A friend of the princess!", the man sounded very impressed with her. "Well, don't let us keep you, go right ahead and visit our pride and joy."

"They seemed... nice", Aiko remarked once the couple were gone. "A bit _too_ perky, but who am I to talk?"

Pelagio was less excited, merely watching for any robots that came too close to them. "Hmph. It's true. I have seen far less pleasant cognitions."

Sensing his concern, Aiko stopped and let the belt take her the rest of the way to the next junction. "Cognitions?"

Pelagio followed suit, gesturing with his taloned greaves to another woman passing them on a higher walkway who waved back to them.

"These appear to be humans, but they are not 'real' humans like the kind that populate your dimension, my lady. Like the robots you see, they are merely the product of your friend's deepest desires, nothing more. As such, their intellect can be somewhat... limited."

"That's mean", Aiko pouted. "They seemed perfectly fine. Helpful, too. Now we know where to find Mira-senpai."

Pelagio offered no further opinion, merely looking with a raptor's keen eyes towards their towering destination, a spire like none that had ever existed on earth. She could have stayed here for days marvelling at all the bizarre technology around them, but she couldn't forget why they were here.

As expected, there was more and more machinery evident to Aiko the closer they got to the spire on the walkways, most of it operated entirely by robots. Massive cubes of circuitry swelled, and occasionally a small branching section of walkway would detach and become an independent floating platform for the 'cognitions' to travel on.

"Mira-senpai has quite the imagination to create all this", Aiko observed once they had used one of the floating platforms themselves.

"Agreed", Pelagio said more distantly. "Since this world was formed out of her own subconscious. Just be careful now. A Land usually has strong defences around its ruler, out of the fear that someone might take them away."

That warning stopped Aiko's brisk walk. She peered across the next web of walkways they had to use, spotting a pair of box-shaped robots clearly guarding the walkway leading directly into the spire.

"But... we're here to get Mira-senpai out of here. That's why I went in."

None of the machines or cognitions around her reacted, but Pelagio looked alarmed. "Please, my lady. Be careful of what you say here. If we must save your friend, then we shall... but broadcasting that to her own protectors is unwise."

Sure enough, the instant the two of them got near the box-bots, one of them held up a two-pronged metal claw, speaking in a monotone machine voice that buzzed harshly on strong consonants. "Halt, citizen. Princess Mira does not wish to be disturbed at this time."

Aiko shrugged. "I'm Aiko Tsuruga, her friend. I think she'd like to see me."

The single white light that must have served as the machine's eye began to flicker rapidly. "Processing. Processing. Searching database for friend listing Aiko Tsuruga. Listing not found. Depart, citizen."

Aiko could hardly believe it was that simple. They hadn't come all this way just to get rejected by a walking toaster, though she could tell by the way Pelagio was tensing up that he was getting ready for something to happen.

"But... I _am_ her friend! I helped her! Can you... check your list again?"

"Processing. Searching database for friend listing Aiko Tsuruga. Listing not found. Depart, citizen."

 _Damn._ She fought down the urge to hit the robot. "Sir Pelagio?"

But it wasn't Pelagio who spoke up next. The sound came from behind them, loud and blaring and nearly as mechanical-sounding as the guard bots were.

"She is _not_ Princess Mira's friend. Seize her!"

The rest happened too fast to follow, only put together properly in her memory afterwards. The guard bots' eye lights shifted from dead white to the angry threatening red of traffic lights. Their claws reached out, only to clatter uselessly on the walkway- Pelagio's sword had lashed out in a blink and severed both appendages.

But that did nothing to stop the other sentry robots around, or the huge one behind them that had spoken to them, drawing Aiko's frightened eyes to it. In mere moments, she found herself being grabbed by several sets of strong metal claws and forced down onto the walkway against her will. Beside her, Pelagio was being restrained by four more of them, cursing but unable to move his sword arm or shield.

Only the big one who had spoken was free, clomping towards them on a pair of heavy steel hooves the size of telephone poles. This one was fully bipedal and humanoid, but it was also nearly eight feet tall, fancy body plating far more technological than Pelagio's covering nearly every inch.

 _Nearly_. But the thing that shocked Aiko the most about this robot had nothing to do with how strong its body plating looked, or how big it was. She'd seen many a robot on TV that was bigger and tougher.

It was those final inches that set her hair on end. Above all that mechanical muscle and circuitry and exposed cable plugs, the body became even more humanoid, finally giving away to dark brown flesh starting at the neckline and travelling up.

Aiko stared up past that, into Mirambela Sorano's leering face.

* * *

4/13 Saturday

After School

Noel Vitienne had lost all awareness of time or his own body. He knew at some point that he must have gone to Tosashimizu general hospital and requested to be let in to see Ayano Furusato.

He must have heard a refusal at that time, because he was still seated in one of the chairs in the main lobby. All he could do then was sit there and imagine what must be happening in the closed ward.

Beeping life sign monitors keeping careful track of the girl's nearly nonexistent pulse.

Clear IV lines jammed into the skin stubbornly refusing to let the patient die.

White-coated doctors speaking in hushed tones to each other the byzantine language they spent over five years and a fortune to learn.

And the body of Ayano Furusato lying motionless on a cot, her eyes and lips stubbornly shut, normally vibrant dark hair resting dead on the cushions, pale-skinned body giving no sign of ever waking up.

The red sketchbook seemed to help somewhat. It let him look through pages of images based on times when his head wasn't throbbing and his bones didn't feel like dust.

"Pretty."

The single word dragged him from his stupor to see the source. The woman standing over him was nearly statuesque and pale as Ms. Mattora, though definitely in a lower bracket for age between Noel's own and adulthood. More striking were her earrings, crystals of clear ice the nearly same tone of dark blue as her swirl of stringy hair.

Eyes an unusually near-white shade observed the sketchbook before turning to him. "Is that who you're here for now?"

"Yes", he said without resistance. It didn't matter to him if this person thought him overly sentimental for reacting this way over someone he'd only met a few years ago. He'd been called far worse things for being sentimental and crying when sad. Mainly by his father. "They say she's going to die."

"'They' aren't perfect", she told him sternly, taking the adjacent seat to look closer at his sketches. "If there wasn't a prescription medicine I needed to get here, I wouldn't be caught dead in this place. 'They' act like the living Gods of their little world in here, but you'd be amazed at how many cases they get where they can't pinpoint the cause."

As he closed the book in embarrassment, her expression shifted into something friendlier, though the smile still seemed like something she had to put on instead of a natural feature. "There's still so many things that humanity can't explain or comprehend, wouldn't you agree?"

As before, Noel didn't have the strength left to make any kind of counterargument. Luckily, he did agree with her statement. If every great mystery or vast unknown area in the universe was mapped out and quantified, that would leave no room for wonder. _No room for doubt... no room for faith._

"I can still hold out faith", he croaked. "Faith that, however slim her given chances are at returning, that it is possible. Or that even if she should die, that it was for a greater reason... though I must hope for the former outcome."

"Can't say I agree with the latter", she agreed softly, holding out a long-nailed hand. "Sorry. I'm Cecille Yumika. I just came here to get my medicine, but then I recognized your school uniform, and I saw your face."

He considered it how long it took that name to click to be just one more sign of what kind of shape he was in. "Ah... you are related to Principal Tetsuo Yumika? Are you his...?"

"His sister", she cut him off fast, knowing full well that while she would never be able to pass as a student, she did look young enough for someone to arrive at the other logical conclusion. "His daughter is here too, actually. Tosashimizu isn't big enough to have more than one major hospital."

"His daughter", Noel repeated dully, not wanting to hear about yet more tragedy.

"In the same ward as your friend", Cecille explained, her voice equally drained of feeling despite her earlier words. "So you can probably imagine his reaction to this situation."

He considered it likely that their principal was having a reaction not unlike his own. Emotional numbness and grief, covering up a mad desire to find whoever was responsible for it and make them pay.

But there _was_ no one responsible. What little information he'd gleaned pointed only to the victim. Even with an obvious target, he couldn't forget his oath. And try as he might, he couldn't quite forget the accusing tone of Ayano's parents, blindly seeking a target in a similar state to his own, and finding it in the one other person who had cared about her enough to start asking questions.

The weight of that accusation prevented him from looking Cecille in the eye, and he felt a hand gripping his chest as though she was worried he might fall out of the chair. "Looks to me like this was much more than some simple high school fling. And yet, you're the only one here."

Noel amazed them both with a brief, whispery laugh. "She wasn't exactly the most popular student in Koashimizu. Well, she _was_ , but then... some students don't like that she had me as her boyfriend."

He still couldn't quite look up into Cecille's face, but he could feel the anger radiating from her regardless. "And _that_ idiocy's still happening. My brother's useless as always."

There was the strange urge to defend the man who shared in his grief, and he decided to act on it. It might help get his mind off worse things. "How unkind of you. He tries."

"He tries and fails", Cecille corrected sharply, swiftly transferring her anger between targets as she stood. "He always fails. I honestly can't say if it's just horrible luck or if he's got some kind of failure complex... but the end result is the same. Don't count on your principal for much, if anything. I made the same mistake once."

 _This sounds... complicated_ , he mused. His family were at home, thousands of miles away. He didn't like entertaining the idea that he had travelled to Japan, studying abroad just to get away from certain less pleasant members of that large group for a while, but it would be a lie to claim the thought had never entered his head.

Now here he was with a family just as divided by boundaries and personal beliefs. "It sounds as though you two have had a difficult time understanding one another. My siblings are sometimes the same way."

Cecille barked a scornful laugh. "That might be the most polite way of putting it I've ever heard. Yes, I suppose."

Noel stood, facing her now that he was able to properly lift his head again. Talking to someone like this seemed to have shed the weight. He spread one hand around the hospital in a gesture. "Then I must repay your kind advice with some of my own. You'd do well to reach out to him when the time is right. Perhaps you two have reasons to remain at odds, but he is still family. _Blut ist dicker."_

She didn't look as impressed as Noel had hoped by his speech, but at least she didn't laugh at him. Far from it, in fact- she put one hand to a regal chin as if contemplating his words. "Well I hope you never change your tune about that- because that would mean you've seen his true face, and suffered for it. You..."

Taking a brief look around to ensure no one was watching, Cecille snapped her long fingers, a most un-adult expression taking over her face. "You know what? _Screw it._ I can't stand seeing somebody else like this. Not when there's something that I can do about it."

Admittedly unreliable danger senses tingling, Noel took a step back. "Miss Yumika, I must protest."

She blinked. "Protest about what? You don't even know what I was planning on- oh. Okay, you can just go ahead and purge _those_ kinds of thoughts from your head. I'm 34 years old, you idiot child. I might get arrested for so much as implying anything like that. Although, I suppose with _your_ looks, you must get offers from the girls at school all the time, right?"

He couldn't smile just yet, but she had brought out a stronger laugh he thought had been lost forevermore. "The ones who aren't afraid of the wrath of their peers, yes. And my name is Noel Vitienne, miss Yumika."

"I knew it", she said triumphantly. "Some of the kids at the school I teach at actually dye their hair just to look like you. It's funny seeing them try to compete with each other." Brushing her own hair back, she matched his earnest stare.

"I was talking about something else. Something I found out about when I was young." Watching through the window over his head as the moon began to emerge from behind a cloud bank it had covered in unearthly light, she nodded, smiling. "If you're up for it, meet me at Shiritsu Nakanohama after lunch tomorrow. Trust me, Mr. Vitienne... this might change your whole world for the better."

* * *

 _No... this is wrong._

This _wasn't_ Mirambela Sorano. It was impossible, for quite a number of reasons now that Aiko had the time to consider it.

Mirambela wasn't eight feet tall, for one thing. The face cruelly smirking down at her was only looking with one normal eye, though even that was an orb of searing molten red and gold that couldn't have possibly occurred in a normal human. Her right arm tapered into a utilitarian cylinder that was probably a weapon, and the other was a heavy steel gauntlet with red lights emitting from the palm.

The other half of her face was taken up by more of the same flawless metal plating as the rest of her body, with a round red machine lens jutting out where her other eye should have been. The lens made miniscule movements independent of her other eye, adjusting itself as the massive machine with her friend's face spoke again.

"She lies. She is not Princess Mira's friend. She is filth, trying to infiltrate the spire and threaten the princess!"

Aiko winced, and not because of the accusation. Mira's dark lips were opening to speak, but when they did so, the voice that came out was a revolting mishmash of Mira's own accented voice, and the harshly buzzing mechanical tone of the sentry bots. Both were far louder and more emotional as she made her accusation.

Could it be Mirambela? She knew so little. Was _this_ what Faraway Lands did to people unfortunate enough to stumble through the gate of green light? _No,_ Aiko decided in complete confidence. This bipedal machine had none of Mira's grace or her kindness in her. It had her face, and it had her voice. _Nothing else._

"You!", she struggled to grunt out, cold metal claws digging into her chest. "What have you done with Senpai? Answer me! Why do you have her face?!"

The mechanical hulk ignored her, the part of her lips that was not consumed by space-age technology twisting into a cruel grin. "Stupid filth doesn't belong anywhere near princess Mira. Cast her down into the darkness where she belongs. Her stupid accomplice as well! Two more for the cleansing!"

"Acknowledged", a dozen security bots chorused with much less enthusiasm. Then she was being lifted up against her will, dozens of unyielding machines forcing her over walkway's protective field as she and Pelagio both screamed in protest.

She had two seconds to stare into the chasm before it swallowed her.

* * *

Waking up in strange places was getting to be a bad habit. It had allowed her to develop a checklist of what to do first.

People nearby, check. The place was extremely dark, with only faint light shining down from above, but Aiko did see a man leaning near a metal pole.

Surroundings, check. The pole was one of many which she realized had to be the bases of the mechanical 'trees'. They were larger at the bottom, but she saw no switches or gadgets covering them as they had above. The only lights were the ones up where she had been.

"Uuugh."

The noise came from directly beneath her, and Aiko sat up with a start. Pelagio lay sprawled at her feet, obviously alive but beaten.

"Sir Pelagio", she observed in dismay, horrified that she had squashed him in the fall. "You saved me. Don't worry. I'll get help for you."

The bird-knight made a noise that couldn't be identified as affirmative or negative, but he couldn't get up to stop her anyway.

"Hey!", she called out as loudly as she could to the leaning man she'd seen before. "My friend needs help! I need a medic over here!"

But the man was clearly different from the cognitions she'd spoken with in the land above. He was dishevelled with overgrown, dirty hair and wearing only rags. As he turned to the noise, Aiko saw that his eyes were... off. Out of focus and colourless, unable to zero in on what was making the noise.

"Gaaahhhh", the man grunted dully, a thin stream of drool running down his face. "Gooooooh."

Aiko bowed her head in sympathy. She had never seen a legitimate, mentally deficient person before, but she's heard the stories and this man fit all the signs she had heard about. Whatever his condition, he obviously wouldn't be of any help to her. "I'm so sorry, but I need help for my friend... hey! Anyone? Help! We need help! My friend is hurt!"

Unfortunately, while she did see other people as she walked further into the dark forest, they all seemed to be in the same condition as the man. One of them, a woman, was butting her head against a column for no discernible reason. Beside her, a man was muttering gibberish to himself. One of the other women was at least a bit more active, running between the trees and laughing disturbingly at nothing. Looking closer, Aiko saw that the woman had Ms. Mattora's elegant face.

Aiko breathed deep, refusing to let the horrors of this place get to her when her friend needed help. Both of them did. Mirambela was still here as well, no doubt under the protection of that awful machine woman copying her face and voice.

Heading back and testing to see, she confirmed that the fallen Pelagio was indeed as heavy as he looked. Too heavy for her to lift and carry. _What then? Do I dare leave him in this place? Will the people here hurt him?_

"My lady."

Aiko looked down. Pelagio still looked dazed, but he was slowly standing back up. "Fear not for me. I gladly lay down my life to protect you from harm. I do not require-Oooh..."

He groaned and nearly fell back down, but Aiko was there to catch him. "Sir Pelagio... here, lean on me. I'll get you out of here." He was still quite heavy, but she could bear it. She had to.

It was that slow trip through the darkened woods that made her wonder about the time. It had been the tail end of the afternoon when she had gone through the so-called 'gate' into this strange world, and she knew several hours at least had passed since then. Yet, the faint orange glimmer of the afternoon sun continued to aid them.

"Time-ugh. Time passes differently in Faraway Lands, my lady", Pelagio answered when asked. "In your world, it is still-ah... the early evening. You need not worry about being feared missing like that other girl."

"Incredible", she noted. That was one less thing to worry about, but it did remind her of something else. "Ayano-san... did she come here too?"

"Most-ah! Most likely", Pelagio confessed over the howls of the mad. "Not here specifically, because this is Mira's Land. But I consider it most likely that she-ugh. That she travelled through the gate to Faraway Lands, my lady. Perhaps she found her own Land."

"And it killed her", Aiko finished in bleak terror. "Or close enough. She wasn't breathing at all."

"Not exactly", Pelagio corrected her. He looked about to explain further, but then the worst pain yet overcame him and they had to stop, Aiko setting him down next to a small column. "My injuries are taking far too long to recover", he complained, round eyes blinking up at her trying to hide the pain. "I am... worthless to you like this. You should go. Leave me be."

The suggestion sounded ridiculous to her, and she let him know with her face just how ridiculous it was. She bent down, examining his wounds but finding no obvious signs of the pain. First Aid wouldn't help a bird. "A knight serves and protects his lady", she told him sternly, human eyes focused in on his side orbs. "But the lady has to respect her loyal knight in return. Otherwise, it's just slavery."

"My... lady", Pelagio whispered, his falcon eyes misting over. "You are so... very wise... and kind. I am... honoured to be your sworn protector. If to remain here with me is what you wish, then I-ugh! I shall... abide."

 _He means it_ , she realized for the first time, feeling hollow. _This isn't just some silly game he's playing. He actually wants to protect me. He attacked Kujou for me. He's been watching over me the whole week. He's not even human, and yet... I..._

Words weren't enough. Not for this.

Brushing herself off, Aiko leaned down and planted a light kiss on his metal beak. "I'm just another girl. Just a high school student, trying to find a new home there. I don't know what I did to earn you as a guardian, but whatever it is... I'm glad that I did. Thank you, sir Pelagio."

Birds couldn't blush, but she felt the emotion behind his words. "It is... my honour, my lady."

* * *

o


	5. First Awakening

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/13 Saturday

Evening

 _Ai._

 _Ai, you must wake up._

 _Wake-_

 _Okay_ , Aiko considered, internal thoughts coming all the easier after what felt like hours walking through the dark chasms lining what seemed to be the very bottom of 'Mira's Land'. _Maybe I made a mistake here._

She could have gone home. That was the idea that kept coming back to her with each dead end. No one had forced her to chase after Mira into this place, without understanding just big or how dangerous it really was. She'd been fascinated by its appearance without regard to what it really existed for... or the defences in place to stop her from finding her friend. Now, it was too late for either her or Pelagio to run away. _Have to get out of here first... get out of this nightmare. Then I'll figure out what to do._

"Filth detected."

They had been found. Aiko knew it before hearing the words thanks to an unmistakable sensation of danger right before it. They had been forging through the dark chasm winding beneath Mira's Land for long enough that she had forgotten how long they'd been there. But now, after seeing nothing but darkness, spire bases, and more poor ragged souls incapable of helping them, there was someone else.

Two of the flying disk-shaped robots descended from their perches, one ahead and one behind Aiko and Pelagio.

"Stupid filth detected", the other one echoed back. It was strange. The box-shaped bots had shown no traces of any kind of personality, but Aiko could already sense a note of disdain for the subject matter in these two. It reminded her of Benihime Kujou, whose retarded drooling doppelganger they had stumbled upon earlier.

"Shall we end its misery now?", the first robot said in the same machine arrogance.

"Irrelevant", the second replied. It was practically the exact same voice talking to itself. "It makes no difference how many filth exist now. They will be exterminated when the cleanse begins."

"My weapons systems require calibration in preparation for the cleansing.."

"...Proceed."

Pelagio groaned, letting her know that he still wasn't ready to fight again. _Only one thing left._

"We're _not_ filth!", she tried, speaking loudly enough be heard over the whirring of their engines. "I'm Aiko, and this is sir Pelagio. And he's hurt. Please... help us!"

The two disk bots hovered closer to the ground now. She could see their weapons on display, a pair of small barrels on each chassis that looked like lasers or something like them, but neither fired just yet.

"The stupid filth says it is not stupid filth", the first robot observed neutrally.

"Perhaps there has been a mistake", the second questioned. "What if a citizen fell down here by accident?"

"Irrelevant", the first countered. Its laser emitters flashed. "Prove it then, stupid filth. Activate the lift."

The machine glided aside, allowing Aiko to see what it referred to. One of the smaller columns was hollow, a disk-shaped lift contained within. There was a panel of buttons and lights inside the shaft as well, which presumably allowed the lift to travel upwards.

"If you are in fact a citizen under princess Mira and not filth", the second told her with less rancour, "then you will know how to activate the lift."

Hesitating, unwilling to leave Pelagio open, she rushed into the shaft, knowing it could be their only chance to survive. Just ahead of her there were two rows of buttons, most of them white, blue or red, with a handful of black switches as well.

The robots were patient. They let her try multiple buttons and switches, which did make sounds and made some other buttons light up. Yet, it didn't take long for her to realise that she had absolutely no clue how to make it work.

The robots realised it too as she heavily stepped back out of the shaft. Pelagio's large round eyes stared back at her in desperation, not wanting to believe any more than she did that this was how it would end.

"Confirmed", the first bot gloated. "Stupid filth is always stupid filth. It cannot comprehend even basic machines."

" _Confirmed_ ", the second one noted. "Any citizen under princess Mira would know how to use it. This is just another filth to be exterminated."

"No!", Pelagio finally cried out at last. "I beg you, _no_! Take me, but leave her!"

"You will both be exterminated", the first bot corrected him. It spun, a small black grasper arm hitting her almost like a slap.

Aiko felt her hairpin falling off, and heard a faint crashing noise behind her as her hair came loose, flowing down across her shoulders. She did not even need to look to know that the ruby was broken and could never be repaired. Ordinarily this would have spurred her into a violent rage a scream of denial at the loss of her most precious possession, but all she could feel was numbness.

 _Reckless. Running into a place you knew nothing about, and getting your friend killed with you. Useless._

 _I had to save her._

 _You won't save anyone._

 _I had to try!_

 _So does an insect._

The robot didn't care either. It aimed for her first. The lasers atop its body flashed, emitting the start of a thick beam of deadly violet light.

Aiko couldn't even move. She had failed. Her last chance to save them both and escape, and she'd failed.

 _Just like with mother. Just like with Mira-senpai. Just like always. Why... why was I...?_

 _There was a woman in the small building that was supposed to be home, ebon-haired and willowy. Her long lips failed to mask her true feelings._

 _This woman who was supposed to be mother, who claimed to be mother. But she lied. Every day, she woke up and started to lie more about that. She treated her daughter like she was a walking, talking sin._

 _This was not mother. Mothers appreciated their children. They loved them in actions, not merely words. Their eyes held only joy. Yet every time she looked she saw it, that regret. A lingering wish that tainted every breath, every gesture._

 _That horrible wish that she did not have a child at all._

 _Was it me? Was it something I did? Was it something I forgot to do? TELL ME!_

 _If that is the case, then why..._ _ **Why was I born?**_

The blast flew out of the emitter pointed at her head, and... stopped.

It took her a moment to realize that everything else had stopped too. Pelagio was frozen, his beak open in a screech of anguish. The disk-shaped robots were both suspended motionless above the ground, no longer moving or turning at all.

And there was that purple beam of energy, just sitting there halfway between them. There was no sound. There was no movement to _create_ sound.

There was, however, a voice. A voice that made no sound, for it was only within her mind, unbidden by her own internal monologue.

 _Is this the end for you so soon, then? Will you stand and fight, or will you sit there uselessly and die like a dog?_

 _Who am I? How can I fight to protect myself... how can I justify fighting to live... when I don't even know who I am, or why I exist?_

But the other voice somehow speaking from within her would not be so easily denied. It sounded close to her own, but far more confident. More mature... someone who was well into the prime of her womanhood instead of merely positioned upon its cusp.

 _You are far more than you believe yourself to be. You are what those you have connected with view you as._

The images came to her unbidden as well, blocking out everything else in the world. A bright-faced girl wearing a hairpin telling the viewer that they would always stand by them, realizing after the fact that she was viewing herself through Mirambela's eyes.

 _Whatever happened to the person who told her 'let's think positive'?_

Then she was looking up at herself, through the eyes of someone shorter than her. Someone who shunned all normal social contacts, but couldn't help but be endlessly intrigued by her air of mystery.

 _Niyago-san... that's how he sees me. The child of the seas, right? And he vowed to find out... just who I am._

A tryout on a soccer field. Julian Rosea taking his ball back, but not so focused on the game that he didn't appreciate a wish of good luck in the battle ahead. Talking in the classroom with someone who actually respected his wishes as to the name he chose to bear.

 _I want to see you play, Rosea-kun. I really do._

A view from the 2rd floor of Koashimizu, beholding the scared little girl standing up to the imperious leader of the student disciplinary committee for no reason other than to help her dear friend. A potential ally in Reiha's own battle with injustice.

 _You... you look like you've seen a lot of harsh things in the world, Hayato-senpai. I'd like to learn more about you, and the kind of life you've lived so far. Maybe, just maybe I can help._

A partner in prayer, and someone who wouldn't be turned away by the fact that Noel was already an item with another girl. Someone who shared his compassion, and cared absolutely nothing for the circumstances of his birth.

 _All of these people have already identified all that you are, believing you hold the potential for greatness within you. Will your allow your own fear and self-doubt to deny them this gift?_

 _No._

 _The chaos corrupts the land which you sought to make your own home, expelling all that you represent, an outcast. To them, you are nothing. You have no home now, save for the roiling sea of human consciousness. Yet that can be a home as well, for the one willing to show their strength to those who oppose them, and embrace their inner selves entirely. Do you accept your role as a travelling outcast, or shirk from this prospect?_

 _No..._

 _Your allies are counting upon you, both in this dimension and your own. Without the strength to accept thyself that sleeps within, you will become as nothing. You will die like a dog, and none shall be left to mourn your passing. Do you desire that?_

 _ **NO!**_

 _Then our desires, our minds, are as one._ _Thus, we have sealed a binding contract. I am Thou... And Thou Art I. Break free from your chains of doubt. Unleash my power, Dream Voyager, and pillage this dismal dawn of illusions!_

The voice was gone. Time resumed unhindered. Everything was back to normal.

Except that nothing was. Something, the most important thing of all, had changed in ways that she could never have imagined before... and she knew what had to be done now with the knowledge residing within her. She knew just what to say to seal their contract. The chains were broken. She could hear them.

She knew it because the voice that had guided her _was_ her. It had been her the entire time. She had merely forgotten how to hear it.

Until now.

Now, she had become aware of the mask hugging her face. No one else knew it was there, but she could feel it. And she hated it as she had never hated anything else before, hated it without knowing why. It was choking, blinding her. It had to come off. It had to come off, before she died from suffocation. Nothing else mattered. The mask was killing her inside. It had to go.

She reached up and grabbed at the horrible mask, and ignoring the hideous pain, ripped the mask clear off her face. The voice that guided her gave the incantation that would trigger the mask's release, and she uttered it now without any regret.

" **Per...**

 **So...**

 **NA!"**

An invisible explosion seemed to tear the laser bolt meant for her forehead from the air, knocking the two robots back and Pelagio as well. That was only prelude as Aiko felt something emerging from her, like a fire burning out from within devoid of pain.

"High power level detected", one of the robots was beeping frantically. "Danger! Danger!"

She didn't care. "Who am I? Why was I born? All I ever wanted was a real home and family", she spoke without a trace of sorrow. She knew the words before saying them. They were pouring out from her heart after being chained up by doubt for so long.

"A goal that was always denied me. But now? Now I know where my home is. I know where I want it to be. _I am Aiko Tsuruga. I am the daughter of the sea. I am the Saber. I am thou, my Persona... Anne Bonny!_ "

The cause of the previous explosion appeared now, floating just behind her. A female pirate captain from ages past, wearing a resplendent greatcoat and black feathered tri-corner hat far larger than human size. Thick smoke smelling like it came from gunpowder shrouded various parts of the body, creating something that looked more like a wraith than a human. Sweeping trails of bright green energy spiralled about the spectral entity through its smoke clouds, who was in total about twice the height of the one who had invoked her power.

A cutlass and pistol lay within a well worn leather belt at the wraith's waist... and sure enough, when Aiko reached down she felt a steel handle at her side, a regal cutlass with a round hand guard that looked like a dried rib. There was no pistol, but she didn't care. Both Persona and user shared the same confident, wild grin on their lips.

"And!", she shouted, drawling the blade and pointing. "If hateful people would deny us a home... then we will prove our strength to them, and make it ours!"

If the robots were at all impressed by all of this, they didn't show it. Maybe they didn't know how to be impressed. She didn't care.

"We shall exterminate filth! We shall exterminate filth!", one of them screeched before unleashing another laser blast. It was capable of travelling from emitter to target in the space of one second, but it took less time than that for Aiko to angle her weapon and parry the shot. Before it could fire again, she was screaming a battle cry, cutting the thing in two down the middle, letting sparks fly before turning to repeat her attack on the other one with similar results.

For moment she breathed out... but a flash of movement clued her in that these machines weren't done yet. The movement was gushes of black liquid pouring out of the two ruptured disks, completely consuming the remaining wreckage and leaving behind a pair of disgusting puddles on the darkened ground.

Then, as Aiko readied her blade once more, those dark puddles rose back up in completely different shapes.

One puddle took on the form of a charcoal-scaled lizard roughly the size of a dog, only visible in the darkness of the chasm due to the aura of blazing bright orange fire surrounding it. The other was also clearly reptilian, but also thinner and winged, with reflective red scales and thin blue horns above a curled tail.

"T-they're not mere machines... These are Shadows in disguise!", she heard Pelagio exclaim in utter shock from behind her. "Be careful, my lady!"

Pelagio's advice was appreciated, but Aiko already knew that she was done being careful around these two. Nor did it matter exactly what Shadows were.

She didn't care. They would die, not her. She raised her sword without lunging, instead raising it to the great coated spectre still floating behind her. "Be drowned! _Aqua!_ "

Before the fire lizard could move, a miniature ocean wave had materialized from nowhere and smothered it, extinguishing its fire. The rest of it melted back into its puddle form before simply evaporating into nothingness.

The winged lizard got away from the sudden surge of water however, flapping its wings and unleashing a torrent of hurricane-force wind that was only visible by virtue of it somehow being green. Being visible didn't make it easy to avoid though, and impossible to parry. It buffeted Aiko, blasting her back to slam into a metal tree trunk.

Then she stood, and spat on the metal floor beneath her. "I will not falter to an ill wind. Not until sir Pelagio, and Mira-senpai, and EVERYONE are safe! _Aqua_!"

The identical blast of turbulent water wasn't nearly as effective this time, but it was all the distraction that Aiko needed to release a shrieking battle cry and close with the enemy, and run it all the way through on the tip of her cutlass, yielding the same results as the salamander.

The Shadows were gone. Turning, she was hardly surprised to see Pelagio's beaked face frozen into an expression of awe. Adrenalin rush was keeping him up right now, but Aiko knew his wound was still there. Otherwise he would have been there, joining in the battle as her sworn protector.

"A dreadful injury", she whispered regretfully, eyes nearly shut to block tears as Anne Bonny's floating image accompanied her over. "One you took in my service. Let it be relieved... _Dia!_ "

Instead of a burst of water, a soothing green glow enveloped Pelagio. In moments, he was standing up without any sign of his previous wound.

"My lady", was all Pelagio could manage, his surprise momentarily more debilitating than his wound. He flexed his sword arm. " _Thank you_. It's as good as new. I will never forget your kindness."

 _Interesting,_ the familiar other voice spoke within Aiko, still distinct in this brief moment despite their binding contract. _I showed no such compassion to my crew. Mixing murderous intent for your enemies and unrestrained love for your allies is a dangerous balancing act, as they are the two opposing sides of a woman's passion. We shall see if you have the strength of will to carry it on your shoulders._

"I will", Aiko promised the voice vehemently, though she knew she only spoke to herself, an unlocked portion of her own mind. "We should go. There'll be more Shadows."

Testing his sword arm one final time, Pelagio nodded, but then stared into her. "Your eyes... they've gone back to normal."

"Hm? Is there something wrong with my eyes, sir Pelagio?"

The bird-knight shook his head. "Not now. They turned yellow when were talking and that... _thing_ came out of you."

Aiko felt her face naturally shifting into a stern glower. That expression felt new, and she only then became aware of the black hat that had appeared on her head, the curved brim of it wide enough to partly cover her eyes. Reaching up, she felt a feather of the same colour sticking out of it. _My mask. My_ true _mask._ "She is not a 'thing'. That's Anne Bonny, my Persona. She's part of me now." _No... maybe she always was, and I forgot how to listen._

"But, my lady... what _is_ a Persona?"

Wondering how she had known that made her conscious of the other side of it, the memories that had been denied her. Being pulled into the Velvet Room as she slept, and meeting Mr. Igor and his young assistant, Bartholomew. Being taught of the nature of Personas, and how they had been historically used to fight malevolent forces within the human subconscious. A positive force to repel the negative. Humanity's most hidden depths.

But there was no time for her to explain all of that to Pelagio now. "I'll tell you later. Promise. Just... stay with me, okay?"

For now, they had to focus on finding an escape.

* * *

It took quite a while to locate an actual stairway leading up out of the darkness to the higher level of Mira's Land, a bracket framing one of the trees and well-hidden enough that none of the so-called 'filth' down there would stumble on it.

Naturally, it was guarded. Two more of the disk-shaped robots hovered about, and a tall one shaped like a mobile water cooler remained positioned so that it was impossible for anyone to pass.

Aiko didn't want to talk with these ones. She and Pelagio simply attacked, cutting through the two fliers before they had even noticed there was 'filth' around. The tall guard joined them in another transformation, revealing the forms of Shadows.

"All of the sentry robots", Pelagio observed wistfully as the metal shells collapsed to reveal the true creatures beneath. "So they're all actually Shadows, forced to pretend to be machines by the Land's ruler. I shall handle the large one, my lady!"

The 'large one' he referred to was a big-bellied bipedal goat with white fur and black horns. The disk robots had become two more of the burning lizards from previously, and they fell just as quickly when Aiko called upon Anne Bonny's power to douse them in water and heal when needed.

The huge goat Shadow proved tougher, but having a sword of her own made Aiko appreciate anew just how nimble Pelagio was with his own blade. Quickly as he had when diving down to claw at Kujou, he would slice into a meaty fist rushing forward to crush him and cause the creature to draw it back, howling in pain. A punch with the other hand led to the same counter repeating, and the goat toppled over, looking helplessly at its pair of bloodied fists and... crying?

It sounded strange, but then she didn't expect a fat goat demon to cry like a human would. "Sir Pelagio, I think you might have cut him a bit too hard."

Her beaked protector already had his broadsword readied for the killing blow, but relented when he heard Aiko's voice call to him, instead stopping only to swipe the weapon clean. "Do be careful, my lady. Most Shadows are duplicitous by nature."

 _I am past sick of being told to be careful._ "Maybe, but I say we should give him a chance to earn our trust. You did say they were being forced to pretend to be robots in this Land, right?"

The big Shadow seemed to catch on, his crying fading into a deep, guttural voice. "W-what? You... spare me?"

"Not for free", Aiko amended, reminded of Shukiji. "What can you share with us about this Land, Shadow-san?"

"Shadow- _san_?", Pelagio frowned at the uneccessary honorific. "Hmph!"

The Shadow made an uncertain noise, reminding her of the mentally stunted cognitions back in the chasm. "Uh... it awful. Me hate pretending to be clanky-clank, but me have no choice. Princess Mira's orders."

There were few things Aiko considered her friend to be less likely to do, but she held her tongue. Arguing would get them nowhere. "So, all of you Shadows are made to pretend to be Mira's own inventions. You only shed that disguise when there's a dangerous foe that you need your full power to deal with, right?"

"R-right", the horned creature replied, his wide snout twitching. "You... strong. Even full power not enough to win. Me not ashamed. Me give you money, to spare me?"

Pelagio seemed to take offence to this offer, but Aiko could only chuckle merrily. "That's interesting... but not really what we looking for. We just wanted some information, that's all. You can go now. No charge, just don't get in our way again, okay? Bye, Shadow-san!"

But this dimension hadn't run out of surprises for Aiko yet. Not by a long shot. The Shadow rolled back to his feet now, dull animal eyes regarding the two of them curiously.

"W-wait! You... interesting. Remind me of something... OH!" The snout gave a triumphant whinnying sound. "Uh! Me remember! Me not clanky-clank, and me not Shadow! Me true name... Fomorian! Me come from sea of human consciousness! Me come with you!"

"Uh", Aiko echoed, not sure how to handle this offer. A third member would be useful of course, but he was so big and clumsy that they would certainly attract more attention than they wanted. "How are you planning to do that?"

Fomor whinnied, large teeth stretching into a satisfied grimace as he raised both his bulky fists in triumph. "Me smell you! Scent of the wild card! You wild lady! That mean me can join with you, become Persona! Break more clanky-clank and free Shadows!"

Before she could object further, there was a flash of multicoloured light blasting towards her, briefly forming into a sharp venetian-style eye mask of pearlescent white that fitted itself snugly over her face... and then Fomorian was gone.

 _Not truly gone,_ Aiko knew. Fomor wasn't gone any more than Anne Bonny was. It was merelybecoming her mask. Her _second_ mask... and this mask she didn't mind wearing at all.

"That... was unexpected", she admitted at last, taking a brief sweep to make sure no more Shadows had discovered their little conversation before sheathing her cutlass.

"To say the least", Pelagio agreed, wistfully polishing his own sword. "I've often seen Shadows try to escape fights they cannot win by offering up money or valuables... but joining with their captors? Never. You truly are special, my lady, if your kindness can even touch the corrupt hearts of Shadows."

"No kidding", she shrugged, now getting embarrassed from all this lavish praise. "So the Shadows aren't actually happy being robots... I guess I should be grateful that they haven't figured out that they could turn against Mira-senpai yet."

"That will not happen", Pelagio corrected her more sombrely now as they ascended another walkway. "You see my lady, there is at least _one_ Shadow here who is completely loyal to the Land's ruler. The strongest one of all."

"Evil Microsoft Mary", Aiko finished without needing to guess. "Great."

His large eyes blinked. "Microsoft... Mary? Pardon?"

She shrugged in exasperation. _He really doesn't know much about humans, does he?_ "The big scary robot lady with Mira-senpai's face and half of her voice."

"Ah. You are correct, then. That is your friend's own Shadow, her suppressed self... As impressive as your Persona's power is my lady, I must humbly suggest that we keep clear of that one. She is dangerously powerful. Powerful enough to command all of the other Shadows here, and I'm afraid that even your words will not reach her."

Aiko stroked her chin, trying to understand the meaning. "Then I won't try to reach that one. I'll reach the _real_ Mira-senpai, and get her to come home." Grabbing the handle of her own blade in anticipation of another enemy, she vaulted around another elegantly shining spire to see only cognitions. Cognitions who, mercifully, didn't raise the alarm upon seeing them.

That didn't happen until several minor battles with Shadows and half an hour later, when the lights around the top of the central spire suddenly erupted into four geysers of violet light.

The four sides resolved themselves into Mira's face. No... Aiko realized that it was still Mira's Shadow, the hulking robot guardian. _Great... if she's guarding the central spire, how are we supposed to reach the_ real _Mira-senpai?_

"Filth detected!", the fake Mira's voice rang out loudly across the entire steel forest, even more harsh and revoltingly mechanical when it was relayed through powerful speakers. There was hardly any trace of the original to be found. "Stupid filth has crawled up out of the darkness to contaminate princess Mira's paradise!"

The cognitions seemed very frightened by this announcement, and Aiko saw a few of them beginning to point shaking fingers at the only two people there who didn't share the same fashion sense.

"All sentry units; converge to destroy the filth!", the Shadow commanded, the four holographic visages positioned around the tower speaking in unison. "We shall delete this darkness, so that normal citizens need not fear the contamination of stupid filth!"

Pelagio looked alarmed as any of the cognitions now. "We must go, my lady. I sense that the Shadows are converging. I know that you wished to save your friend, but..."

Aiko was about to agree with him, but then something else happened. Sensing the end of the announcement as the four screens flickered out, all dozens of cognitive people in their immediate area raised their heads, and spoke as one:

" _We love you, princess Mira!"_

It wasn't a false, robotic inflection either. There was real, genuine emotion and humanity in their words too- only the unanimity of it made it sound artificial to her ears. Regardless, it erased the final shreds of doubt in Aiko's mind about what Pelagio had told her earlier.

 _He was right. These_ aren't _actually people. They're just... illusions. Illusions of people who say whatever Mira wants to hear from them to stop her from leaving. The damn_ Shadows _have more substance to them than these cognitions do._

Getting back on track, she spotted four box-shaped robots marching towards them from another walkway, and disk-shaped fliers beginning to filter in as well. "I hear you. A few Shadows is one thing but if they fight us en masse like this, we're screwed. Let's get back to the shore."

Pelagio was already sprinting.

* * *

They almost didn't make it. Most of the Shadows were slow, but they also knew the maze of walkways and lifts spanning Mira's Land better than Aiko and Pelagio did. After several near scrapes, Aiko got the bright idea of using Anne Bonny's power to short out several of the panels controlling the floating platforms with water, dropping some of the ground-bound Shadows down into the darkness before they could catch up.

Finally, just as she felt her legs reaching their limit, they saw the shore. Black water or no, it was welcome change from the metal forest it felt like they had just spent hours in.

"We're here", Aiko announced, fear creeping back in as she remembered how she had woken up on the shore without a clue of how she had gotten there. More noise behind them proved that the Shadows hadn't given up the chase "Now what?"

Unflinching, Pelagio strode out into the dark waters. "Now I bring you home safely, my lady. As promised."

Aiko started to ask what he meant, but then a sudden radiance overloaded her senses too much to speak. When it faded, Pelagio was gone.

In his place was a small, ethereally-styled ship that looked to be made of pure silver. Neither overly modern or classical style in design, it looked like it had been carved out of a massive block of ore, the front bearing a falcon's beaked head and a pair of wide sails folding out from the single mast that bore feather patterns, thin side rails running around the bow to meet in the upraised middle. The rest was all stylish curves and elegance, though Aiko did spot a few round apertures along the sides that might be used to house cannons.

"Please hurry aboard, my lady", the dulcet voice came booming in from nowhere, startling her even though it was Pelagio's own. Near her position, a section of side rail slid out into a small stairway for her to climb. "The Shadows are drawing nearer."

Staring at that beautiful ship could wait. So could asking Pelagio how exactly he had done this. _All that matters now is that we get out of here. I'm sorry, Mira-senpai... I will come back for you. I promise._

The moment she stepped onto the deck, the ship began to move. A good thing- Aiko saw Shadows emerging onto the coast when they were a mere thirty meters away from it. She kept watching, but the enemy did not dispatch any fliers to chase them.

Instead, she was treated to sailing across a sea of glimmering stars beneath a dark sky streaked with orange afternoon light, in the kind of vessel she had hoped the Fiddler's Green might someday be. "This is _you_?", she had to make sure. Previous developments had not dulled her to a sense of amazement. "You can transform into _this_?"

"That is correct, my lady", Pelagio's calm voice issued from all around her. "This is how I have travelled between the scattered islands of Faraway Lands for all this time... but I must confess that it is quite lonely, and the Shadows are hardly worthy company."

Aiko saw several of the aforementioned islands pass by on either side of them, none of them as large or visually interesting as Mira's Land had been, and shuddered. If each of them bore hostile Shadows, then she had no desire to visit them. "Ugh. This place is so... bleak. I can't believe Ayano-san decided to come here willingly."

"Hmph. I doubt that she knew what she was truly getting into", Pelagio reminded her. "The sea of souls is no place for unprepared humans to visit."

 _Unprepared... that's right,_ Aiko considered, touching the brim of her new hat. _If I didn't wake up to my Persona, we'd have both been killed._ "Can we get out now, though? It's been so long... are going to have to wait for the gate to open again?"

"No, my lady", Pelagio told her cheerily. As he spoke, she could see a growing illumination that resolved itself into a vertical rectangle of golden light as they sailed closer. "Time flows differently here. When we return, you will find that only a handful of minutes have passed since you departed from your own reality, because we will be arriving just as the gate closes with the sun. I believe that humans refer to it as 'early evening'."

That didn't sound so bad to her. _So what's the catch? Oh yeah..._ "So, the rumour's really true then... the gate at the Yume Bay only stays open for a short while, during the exact time when the sun is setting into the sea. Any other time of the day... nothing. Right?"

"Indeed."

"That means that we won't be able to get back here except at the tail end of every afternoon, right?"

"Correct. You were... planning to return here?"

Annoyed, she stomped a foot down on 'his' deck, but heard no gasp of pain. "I _told_ you, I'm here to save Mira-senpai. I couldn't do that today... it was a _lot_ more dangerous than I was expecting, with all those Shadow things... but there's no _way_ I'm just giving up. Not after all this."

Pained silence shrouded their voyage before Pelagio spoke again. "Then I shall aid you in this quest, my lady. I only ask that you avoid charging into battles that we cannot possibly win. We must approach this quest with the greatest of caution- do _not_ underestimate the Shadows, particularly your friend's own Shadow."

"I won't", Aiko promised him. Then they at the gate, and everything was an eye-piercing white until the nightmares of Faraway Lands were at last behind them.

* * *

A/N: Happy Holidays to you all :)


	6. Reprieve

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental.  
_

* * *

4/13 Saturday

Evening

Aiko staggered onto the beach, just ahead of a wave that eclipsed her own height. The transition had been sudden, and one of the questions she hadn't had time to ask was if Pelagio would keep his ship form when they returned.

As amusing as that might have been to see, the answer turned out to be no. She was alone, and stranded in a high, choppy set of waves like she hadn't seen since coming to Koashimizu. They dragged heavily at her as she struggled out of the surf, only stopping when she was completely clear of the shoreline to catch a breath, her school uniform completely soaked through in the first seconds. Her hat was gone.

Then a voice filtered down to her. "I must apologise for the rough transition, my lady."

Aiko looked up to the top of the nearest sandy rock arch. Sure enough, there was a familiar white-feathered falcon perched atop it, peering down at her with its wings folded up in that weirdly dignified way that birds did. Now that he was closer, she could make out the exact details of his body, such as the darker feathers around the round head and a hooked beak complimenting his no-nonsense raptor's scowl.

"S-sir Pelagio?", she asked, squinting at him through the evening shade. "You can talk here too?"

"Hmph. It would seem so", the falcon replied indifferently, occasionally tilting his head this way and that like a normal bird might. The small body betrayed no emotions from this distance. "I am perfectly capable of speech, but no humans have properly understood me until you-"

"Until I got back from Faraway Lands", she amended hastily. "Until now, I just thought you were a normal birdie following me around. Maybe it has to do with me getting my Persona?"

"A likely theory", Pelagio considered. "At any rate, I would suggest that you return to your dorm rooms. As you are no doubt experiencing for yourself, combating Shadows is an exhausting task. I am feeling the aftereffects as well. Without meaning to be too blunt my lady... you should go to sleep. Now."

He wasn't kidding either. Now that the adrenaline rush had faded, Aiko suddenly felt like she ought to sleep for the next day and a half. The rough waves had just been the icing on the cake for her. _Damn... that was no time at all for everyone here, but I must have been in there fighting Shadows for at least six hours. Gotta sleep..._

"I'll see you tomorrow then", she forced herself to say before beginning the long trudge back up the hill to the dorms. "Good thing I have Sunday off. We can take our time getting ready for the gate to open. And then... we'll save Mira-senpai. Whatever it takes."

* * *

4/13 Saturday

Evening

Aiko didn't even remember falling asleep. She knew she must have, otherwise she wouldn't be here now, surrounded by unyielding backlit walls of blue velvet.

"Welcome back", Igor's unsettling voice greeted her as she took her seat opposite him. "I am glad to see that you were able to break through the barrier and acknowledge your other self. That is your first step upon the path of the Dream Voyager."

"Glad I met your expectations." Realising how surly that sounded, Aiko quickly corrected herself and nodded back. "Look, uh... I'm sorry. Mr. Igor. You did help me. If you hadn't... I might not have awakened in time. It's just... a lot to take in all at once."

Beside them, Bartholomew chuckled, smiling enigmatically with his eyes nearly shut. "I remember it was quite overwhelming for me too, at first. In just one day, you've had to accept the existence of the hidden dimension called Faraway Lands, as well as Personas and Shadows. Anyone would be tired after such an ordeal."

"For you too?" Aiko pondered. "You have a Persona too, Bart-kun? Hee! Can I see it?"

But the blue-garbed assistant stepped back, suddenly pale. "Ah, sorry. Perhaps some other time, when you are better prepared. Without wishing to brag, my Persona is... rather dangerous."

Aiko shrugged. "So's mine."

"Ah, Anne Bonny", Igor mused, his nose tilting over the table like an oversized ink quill. "A ferocious legend from the human age of sail, who struck out to seek her fortune in a world yet unexplored. Yours is the Arcana of the Fool. Unproven and empty as the world you travel, yet holding limitless potential. Yes... by comparison, your Persona is new and lacking in power. You must work to build its strength if you are to halt the tide of the world's regression. We have already begun the preparations for special rituals that shall aid you in this."

Her disappointment at this brutally honest appraisal shone through, and she checked the round ship windows outside. Nothing but reflective, marble black water out there, just like before. Just like the stormy seas of Faraway Lands. "What about the Fomorian then? The Shadow who chose to join me?"

Igor chuckled eerily, his grin widening. "That is proof of your role as the wild card and the Fool. Fluid as water, capable of taking on a multitude of forms and roles to best suit the situation at hand. Variety shall be your greatest strength, along with your ability to reach out to the lingering hearts of wayward Shadows."

"What _are_ they?", she asked abruptly. "Pelagio didn't explain properly."

"Shadows are the subconscious manifestations of suppressed human thoughts", Bartholomew provided. "They are the direct opposite of Personas. They are often drawn to particularly strong feelings of despair or hatred, and in this particular case, they have come to serve the sources of those feelings within the worlds of their dreams."

Aiko frowned, remembering once more her last sight of Mirambela as she was wading into the door of orange light with a disturbingly serene smile. "Despair. There's question about it. Her despair is what brought her out to the Yume Bay, and drew her into that world... I have to save her, no matter what."

"And so you should", Igor agreed with her vehemently. "With every soul that is lost to the other world, its pull becomes ever stronger, drawing your world further into its tides and strengthening the world regression."

"Then I'll stop it", she nodded to him, forcing herself to look directly into those bloodshot round eyes for once with her own. They weren't as gross as she remembered from the first time, but there was still the faintest sense that Igor found all of this an amusing diversion instead of a serious matter for deliberation. "I promise you now, Mr. Igor. Only... Will I be able to remember coming here now?"

"You will", Bartholomew said with a kinder smile. "The release of your Persona has shattered the invisible chains upon your mind that prohibit most humans from visiting this place, or from being able to see the gate to Faraway Lands."

"That makes sense", she reasoned. If anyone else had discovered the truth about the Yume Bay, they would have posted about it online at the very least. _Only... I never thought about bringing this to the police before, but what would they do? They'd think I'm just making it up._

The school might handle it a little better since it was one of their own students missing, but they would come up against the same problem- _nobody_ would believe that there was a gate to another dimension on the coast just south of campus that only opened at a specific time of the day, and in the middle of water. Even she had trouble believing it still. "Then I'll have to handle it myself. Oh, and sir Pelagio of course."

"Allies are indeed an invaluable commodity", Igor concurred. "Not only your sworn guardian, but others that shall flock beneath your banner as well. No wild card has ever triumphed alone."

"I wasn't planning on it", she acknowledged.

* * *

4/14 Sunday

Morning

A sense of infinite opportunity hit Aiko as she awoke at the crack of 10. She was fairly confident that it had to do with more than the fact that Sunday meant no school.

A faint morning breeze stirred as she left the dorm, casting strands of light gray into her eyes. She remember only then what had happened to her hairpin the day before. That left her hair wild and unkempt, merely tossed behind her head like some predator's mane.

 _Like Anne Bonny._ She smiled defiantly, staring up into the sunlight of a new day outside the dorm. She was Anne Bonny and Anne Bonny was her, forever a part of her consciousness now. So was Fomorian, but she didn't feel that creature's voice within her, only its strength.

She figured that inner strength was what was stopping her worry about Mira from driving her completely mad. _Patience now. The gate to Faraway Lands doesn't open until much later today. Until then, just do whatever you can. Enjoy the time you have._

On cue, her phone beeped.

 _RH: Did something happen with Sorano? I heard she ran out of class_

Aiko gulped, considering what she _could_ say. She hated deceiving people even by omission, but she knew that Reiha would never believe the truth.

 _AT: She's missing. worried_

 _RH: =:O You gotta report that! Ayano's still in the hospital, and it doesn't sound good_

 _AT: i will_

 _RH: was going to show you around the city today, but I get if you're not up for that now_

 _AT: Actually, that sounds fun. I'll go after I report Mira-senpai's disappearance_

 _RH: kk. Meet u at the bus stop_

Had she done the right thing? The puffy clouds drifting by yielded no answers. _No, I was right the first time. No one will believe the truth unless I show them. Maybe I can convince Hayato-senpai to come with me and see for herself, but that's it._

The school was actually quiet for the first time ever, only a handful of staff or students walking the halls. Aiko would have liked to report the situation directly to Mr. Takao or Principal Yumika, but neither were there. Instead she reported to a young guidance department member she didn't know, but she was satisfied to see the woman's reaction to it, immediately filing a report to the police and making a phone call to Yumika. _That's something at least._

Naturally, everyone would connect the disappearance to whatever had happened to Ayano Furusato, just as Aiko had. A freak disappearance followed by death was common, as twisted as that sounded, but a pattern of disappearing school girls raised a lot of alarms in a lot of heads.

Wanting an update herself for obvious reasons, Aiko tried calling Noel but received no response. Instead, she looked up from her phone to see a familiar sight watching her from a tree.

"My lady, it is good to see you awake at last. Do you still intend to travel back through the Yume Bay gate today?"

Aiko took a brief look around the tree before replying. Though she could understand Pelagio's words perfectly fine, it was obvious to her that everyone else heard only random chirps and squawks from her friend. They would only see a girl having a conversation with a bird perched in a tree, and the bird talking back to her in mere noise.

 _O_ _h well, it's not like my social standing can get any worse than it already is._

"O-of course. We had to retreat last time, but I won't leave Mira-senpai in that place any longer than I have to. Actually, that's what I was going to ask you about... how long? How long do you think we have? How long, before...?"

Pelagio turned his head, allowing Aiko to see his round raptor's eyes flicker in comprehension. "Ah. You assume that this is like the incident with the other girl then. How long was she missing before washing up on the shore?"

"Two weeks", Aiko remembered Noel's words. "That was when she disappeared. Her parents and Noel-kun were looking for her the whole time, but she never came home."

"Then the number of days that we have to save your friend are most likely similar to that number", Pelagio deduced briskly. "Though it may vary from person to person."

That was comforting and alarming at the same time. "I don't want to take _any_ chances, if the incidents really are the same", she affirmed. "We need to get her out of there as soon as possible, sir Pelagio."

Pelagio looked reluctant to continue, knowing that his next words might only alarm her further, but in the end he relented. "Then, perhaps a more accurate way to measure our remaining time would be to go out to the coast?"

"The coast? But the gate won't open until later. I've got plans already."

But the white falcon merely spread his wings, taking flight towards the Tatsukushi coastline. "You will see when you arrive there, my lady. Please don't be frightened."

* * *

There was only one boat on the shore today, the Fiddler's Green. Aiko's attention was more focused on the water itself however, which was bombarding the shoreline with waves just as brutal as the ones from last night.

"There. There is our 'timer', my lady", Pelagio advised her from a rocky perch somewhere above. "You can see for yourself how wild the waters have become here. That is the sign of an inner struggle."

Not comprehending, Aiko looked over the towering breakers, watching how they crashed against the sandbars and rocks as though it was an epic war being fought between the land and sea. "Yeah, it's weird. It's like totally crazy yesterday and today, and before that..." _Oh... oh damn._

"Before that... before yesterday, it was completely calm. And then, the tide went out."

"Yes", Pelagio explained. "The water's surface was almost completely smooth and quiet in your first days here, with nary a wave to be seen. That was because the soul trapped within Faraway Lands had finally stopped struggling. It had given up and fully accepted the new reality as its own. Thus... _that_ soul will never return to this reality. Only her body remains."

Aiko tried not to fall over. Finally, the full, agonising truth in its entirety. The doctors at Tosashimizu general hospital would do their professional best, employing all manner of treatments and medicines to wake Ayano up, using their oxygen pumps and IV lines hooked up to keep her small body from decaying... but it was all for _nothing._

The doctors were all wasting their time, trying to preserve a blank-eyed vessel of flesh with nobody home... and Aiko had a feeling that soon they would realise that too, and pronounce her, for all intents and purposes, dead.

 _Furusato-san... poor Noel-kun..._ An involuntary tear fell from Aiko's eye and was absorbed by the sand. _When this is over, I will tell Noel-kun the truth. I will show him._

Yet... the sight of these massive crashing waves gave her hope for Mira, even if it was too late for Ayano. That meant she was still fighting hard in there, wanting to return to the world of humans. _And I will save Mira-senpai. I will fight just as hard as she is fighting. If I don't... then the next body that washes up on this beach will be hers!_

"So... there's no chance at all for me to save Furusato-san?"

"I am afraid not", Pelagio informed her sadly. "We may be able to go and visit her Land if you wish, but she would never be able to leave it, nor would she wish to. Her mind has completely rejected this reality by now, and embraced her new home."

"Maybe we will anyway", Aiko maintained, idly holding out faint hope that Pelagio was wrong about that. "At least so Noel-kun can visit her there. He'd like that, I'm sure."

"Miss Tsuruga?"

Captain Byzael had called to her, standing on the bow of ship just as before. He didn't seem to notice Pelagio flying around. _Why would he? Just another bird. A bird that I was talking to as it chirped back at me._

Sigh.

"Captain", she acknowledged anxiously. "I was just... did you hear about Furusato-san?"

The captains weathered old face hardened. "Has she died?"

"No, but... it looks that way."

Byzael looked so stricken by this news that for a moment Aiko wondered if Ayano was of some relation to him. "Gods... That nice boy who found her must be in a bad way right now."

"I know", Aiko sniffed. Noel would be at Tosashimizu general right now, staying as close to Ayano as the doctors allowed him to be, still begging to God or anyone who might listen that Ayano might somehow recover. _Begging in vain._

"Sorrow is a heavy burden to bear", the old captain mused, staring out at the wild waves before them, unaware of the conflict it really signified. "Like this current, it can drag you down, and prevent you from performing even the simplest of tasks. Though neither of you were responsible, you feel guilty for carrying on your life as if nothing's happened, as if nothing's changed. It's as though casting off the chains of your sorrow is a claim that the departed's life didn't really matter at all."

"I never knew her", Aiko admitted. "But I know Noel-kun. I... I just wish there was one thing I could do to lighten his load."

"Right now, there's nothing", Byzael told her gravely. "All you can do is carry on with your own life, and try not to let sorrow drag you down into more of it. I find that a bit of physical activity helps to dull the pain, so you're not trapped in your own thoughts for too long. How about it, miss Tsuruga?"

"Huh?" She blinked, remembering their arrangement. "Oh! You want to teach me something now?" _Actually, this is good timing. Anything I learn about sailing could help in Faraway Lands._

"We'll start small", the captain offered, gesturing to the long main mast of the Fiddler's Green. "Try rigging the topsail to carry more wind. She's not in the water, so we won't go anywhere. I just want to see you do it."

That sounded simple in theory. In practise, it was anything but. Just finding which rope to use was flustering enough, but then she had to fight with all the strength in her comparatively small arms against a strong pull the minute she untied the sail's right line, as the wind tried to unseat the sail altogether.

"Harder!", Byzael was yelling at her over the wind as she fought, making her wonder if he'd also had a past career as a drill sergeant. "There's no time to dither about! Move it to the rear starboard belay!"

After a fitful bout of effort, she finally got the rope securely tied, but the captain still wasn't satisfied. "Now the other line! Right now you'd be curving to the left if you were on the water! Hurry!"

The line on the other side, then. The ropes were so thick that it was difficult to pry them loose to begin with, and once it was in her hands the sail billowed out even further than before. It felt like it was going to drag her away with it, but she held on.

"Heave!", Byzael continued shouting. "Get it in both hands now and HEAVE! You have to-"

He was out of her sight when his ranting suddenly cut off, to be replaced by a howl of pain. Forgetting about the rope, Aiko turned to see Byzael knelt down, his left arm cradling his right, which bore a pair of scratches. _Scratches... like talons? Oh no..._

"AHHH! Byzael-sensei! Oh, I'm so, so sorry! I'll go to the nurse and-"

But the captain seemed to have already recovered from the initial shock and actually laughed. "Ah, it's alright miss Tsuruga. I've had worse. Look... there's no blood. That cheeky little featherbag didn't even break the skin. Hah! Is that all you've got, yeh flea-ridden nuisance?!"

His words were true, Aiko realized as she examined the man's shredded coat sleeve in worry. _If we were in Faraway Lands, I could use my Persona's powers to heal it. But he says he's fine, so..._

"I'll be just fine", he repeated to reassure her. "Pain of the body is nothing compared to pain of the heart. Once you're used to dealin' with the latter, then the former's just an annoyance."

Spotting Pelagio swooping back around to perch on the ship's mast, Aiko gave the bird a death glare that made him fly off. Once she was absolutely sure that the captain was okay, she stood and finished tying the second line to the belay, knowing that was what he would have wanted.

"Well done, miss Tsuruga", Byzael congratulated her. "Consider that your first lesson. When the wind shifts, the good captain will shift their ship's sails to fit their course and gain the highest speed to their destination."

"Really?" Aiko was genuinely surprised after all that shouting he'd done. Her arms were already aching from the strain. She'd rarely ever felt so weak or helpless. "But I was pathetic!"

"Nonsense!", the captain grunted. "You just don't yet have the muscle or the reflexes to do it quickly. That can be changed, if you work at it. If you're looking for criticism, you left the line free when that overgrown peacock raked me. A good crew is a strong bond, but they can't all drop their duties just because one of their fellows picked up a scratch. And in my opinion, you ought to be wearing your skirt a fair bit longer." He laughed at his own absurdity.

The former of his complaints was one thing she wasn't regretting any time soon however. _What if it had been serious? He's pretty old. A shock like that might..._

"Regardless", Byzael was finishing up as if the wound really was nothing. _Tougher than he looks. Or at least, tougher than I've been assuming._ "You did well for your first lesson. Come back again when you have more time."

She was grateful to go. Not that the captain was bad company- just the opposite- but the sooner she left him and the Tosashimizu coast behind, the sooner she could find Pelagio. He was back in the same peach tree from before, innocently grooming his wings.

Aiko no longer cared about the small risk of detection. She glared up at her supposed 'sworn protector'. "Sir Pelagio... would you please explain to me what the hell you did that for?!"

The falcon's head turned to reveal narrowed eyes, and she knew that Pelagio was taking this seriously as her. Only his words were disappointing. "I am your sworn guardian. I was protecting you, my lady."

"Protecting me?", she nearly shouted. "Protecting me from what?!"

"That human was harassing you", Pelagio claimed, his round eyes now sharp with his own anger, though none of it directed at her. "He was working you far too hard, and yelling rudely at you. He shouldn't have done that. Not to you. So, I punished him."

Exasperated but unable to reach him, Aiko settled for punching the tree. "He was trying to help me learn to work the sails on the Fiddler's Green! If he's going to give it to me, then I have to earn it! I have to get stronger and faster! I SUCKED back there!"

The falcon didn't move from his spot, only peering down in mild curiosity. "He offered you authority over that run-down wreck of a ship? But... why? I am far more elegant a vessel when I transform. Such rough physical labour is beneath you, my lady."

Aiko forcefully exhaled, feeling much like she had when confronting Benihime Kujou. _Try to be calm. He was just trying to help you._

"Oh? And _why_ do you think that? Is there some kind of rule that I shouldn't ever have to do anything hard if _you_ can do it for me?"

Finally stymied and still ignorant of what he had said which had so offended her, Pelagio folded his wings tightly around himself. "But... You... are my lady. It is my duty to protect you. Besides... I got a bad feeling from that human. He may pretend to be kind, but he is up to something! I can tell!"

But his declaration fell on deaf ears. Aiko shook her head at him pityingly.

"Byzael is my friend, Pelagio. My _friend_. Just as much as you are. You can't just attack people for no reason! And if you really think that I'm some kind of fragile _doll_ that needs to be protected from doing work, then you need to find a different kind of 'lady' to protect."

"B-but... But... my lady..."

"Stay here", she ordered, unable to even look up at him any more. "Watch for the gate to appear. We still have to save Mira-senpai, before it's too late."

He said nothing else as she walked away in a huff. There was nothing he could say at all.

* * *

4/14 Sunday

Lunchtime

"You don't look so well", Reiha observed not for the first time. "No surprise with what's happened, I guess."

Aiko forced her head back up, trying to put an excited smile back on her face no matter how many times it fell off. Tosashimizu city wasn't bad, exactly. It just seemed... empty compared to the endless urban sprawl of Akihabara, or any other part of Tokyo. It stretched along a central road following along the coast for many city blocks, but was 'only' six blocks wide in some places. There were residences, shrines, restaurants and nearly any shop that she might have seen back home, but few if any were more than three floors high.

Or maybe it was because she couldn't shake feeling that she ought to be back at the gate, waiting the entire day for the gate to open. What if Pelagio was wrong about it?

"S-sorry, Senpai", she forced the energy back into her voice as well. "I really appreciate you showing me all this."

Reiha shrugged as if the matter were no consequence. "No charge. I heard our little Niyoga gave you the same courtesy at the school, though he would have asked you for something in return, right?"

"R-right", Aiko agreed, thinking about Shukiji and if he knew anything more about Ayano. Now that she'd established, the means, her mind had drifted to motive. Just what had happened to Ayano to make her so desperate to get away that she would test out an idle rumour about Yume Bay, and willingly walk into the sunlit gate that appeared? "You're not going to ask me for anything, are you?"

"Maaaaybe", Reiha joked, steering her past a large but vacant-looking club and around a corner into a place where the city block seemed to curve inward from both ends, forming a ten-foot gap. "I thought we'd start here. This is my absolute favourite restaurant to go to in this city. It's on me, of course. It might seem a bit rough for a big city girl like you, but trust me- the food is _totally_ worth it!"

It was true that the place hardly fit Aiko's traditional definitions of a restaurant, being nothing more than a small open patio with a large window on one wall that opened into a kitchen, a door to the side providing access but also bearing a sign saying 'employees only'.

The food and prices were written on a chalkboard set up on the window counter, where you would place your order with a gruff-looking adult man with a trimmed goatee wearing a white bandana with 'STARLIGHT' written on it and blue slacks. Despite his appearance, he greeted Reiha as though the two were family, quickly taking both their orders and departing.

As promised, it wasn't bad at all. At some point, Aiko realised now, she had gotten it into her head that being actually able to see your meal being cooked at a restaurant took the magic away, making it easier for her to imagine all sorts of wonderful things being done to prepare it for consumption. However, the buttered prawn she had ordered was as juicy and delectable as any place she'd ever tried, which admittedly hadn't been many with Kogaya's limited budget.

"Still thinking?", Reiha prodded her, and Aiko suddenly realized that the older girl had actually finished her entire meal, the side of dango included, before Aiko was halfway through her own.

"Erm... yes. About Noel-kun."

"Ohhh?" Reiha folded her gloves down on the table, the white of her face accentuating a sly smirk. "You were _thinking_ about Noel-kun? In what way?"

It took a moment for her to catch on to what she meant, then she nearly stood up out of her chair. "AHH! No, no, no!" _God, why were we given the ability to blush? And why can't we turn it_ off _? "_ That would just be... wrong! He just lost Furusato-san!"

Looking incredibly satisfied with the result, Reiha leaned back in her chair. "Oh well. If you're too chicken, maybe I'll move in first... joking, of course. He's not really my type. If you're ever interested though, talk to little Niyoga first. The two of them? They're tight. They even went to middle school together with Furusato-san."

Aiko couldn't imagine two people less alike than Noel and Shukiji, but she took Reiha's word for it. Even if it was a joke, it seemed far too bold.

She'd noticed that about Reiha; most of her jokes and conversation seemed aimed at a far older audience than her, in case the gloves and her liberal application of the stronger curses in casual conversation weren't hint enough. In any case, it was obvious that she was just trying to cheer Aiko up with this jest.

"Hayato-senpai, if it's alright if I may ask... why do you always wear those gloves? It's so hot outside today!"

The gloves in question folded up with her arms as she relaxed back in her chair. "Heh! I'm surprised you didn't ask me earlier. It's fine. Y'see, I have a medical condition where my skin burns in the sun really easily. I only take my gloves and boots off at home. No swimmies for me, heh."

Which explained the light coat of protective makeup on her face as well... but Aiko couldn't shake the sneaking feeling that Reiha was lying to her. Pressing further would be rude, however.

"Trust me Tsuruga-chan, I know perfectly well what it looks like", Reiha elaborated casually. "I figured I have to wear these gloves, so why not go all-out? Goths get a bad reputation in this country, all 'cause dumbasses can't tell the difference between Goth and Gothloli. I'm no 'loli'."

She was rather too old for that, Aiko had to agree. She actually carried the style very well, giving it a sense of dignity rarely seen nowadays. Her appreciation must have shown in her face, because then Reiha spread her arms out over her chair and gazed back. "Little Niyoga told me that you like face painting too... wanna try this look on for fun? I'm sure you'd look great in it."

For a moment, Aiko actually pictured that in her mind. Standing beside her friend, her own face with that protective layer of white. Black eyeshadow and lipstick, her arms and legs covered in the same long opera gloves and boots, a junior copy of Reiha... and nearly ejected the last of her side dish of beans. _Nope. Not interested. Not even if it means becoming closer to her as a friend._

"Ah... no thank you, Hayato-senpai. Maybe another time."

Reiha shrugged, acceptance hiding just a bit of disappointment. "Another time. Maybe something less extreme? There's a shop over near the museum that does face painting, facials _and_ manicures."

That sounded much more appealing, but Aiko wasn't forgetting her main obligation today for a single second. _If I get stuck playing pretty princess in there all day, I might miss the gate. No deal._ "Thank you, but not today."

Defeated, Reiha sagged melodramatically. "Okay, I get it. You've got something else on your plate today, right? I can take a hint. Though... next chance we get, we _really_ need to do something about your clothing situation, Tsuruga-san. Still wearing the student uniform on an effin' Sunday?"

That was one statement that Aiko agreed with entirely. She'd gone ahead and bought a large number of copies of the green and white school uniform, which had proven most helpful after she'd gotten one of them completely soaked through in the Yume Bay... but she'd forgotten that there were actually times when she didn't have to wear the button blazer, knee socks and skirt, when she could wear whatever she wanted. _Nothing quite as 'unique' as Hayato-senpai's chosen wardrobe, but maybe something more interesting than this?_

She stood, reaching out a welcoming hand. "Sold. Let's go shopping. You're buying."

Now a flicker of fear crossed Reiha's pale face. "Hey, wait. I didn't agree to that. Noooo..."

* * *

4/13 Sunday

Afternoon

Pelagio sat perched atop the rooftop of Koashimizu, his talons clenching the brickwork as the day carried on towards the fated time.

He still couldn't quite tell if that time was something to be looked forward to, or dreaded.

 _Mirambela Sorano is my lady's friend_ , he told himself as he saw two girl students pass through the courtyard spread beneath him, chattering away with each other about something trivial. _Therefore, rescuing her is her goal, and thus mine as well._

Yet... to return to Faraway Lands was the more hazardous option for them. He knew, better than any human, just how dangerous that dimension truly was. He'd lived there, wandering the islands all alone. Ever since... _since before I can remember. I remember waking up on that beach, and nothing before that. All I knew was that I had to find and watch over my lady. I didn't even know how I knew. I just felt it._

 _You need to find another 'lady' to protect,_ Aiko's harsh words came back to him. _If you think I'm some kind of helpless doll that needs to be protected..._

More students and staff wandered through, all oblivious to him. He wasn't a human, after all. He was just a bird, a simple, brainless animal to be ignored unless it got in your way or pooped on you. _Is that what I am to her? Just an overprotective annoyance without any faith in her?_

 _She doesn't know. She doesn't know how dangerous the other dimension is. If she knew, she would never want to head back, even to save her friend._

Not that the real world was that much of an improvement, he had to admit. He'd heard whispers floating up to him sometimes as he flew idly around the campus over the last week. Jumbled information, but it painted a clearer picture when he assembled it.

It was the picture of a tyrannical empress seeking to strike back at a potential threat to her reign. Rumours spread to and fro about Aiko and Mirambela and the teacher Yukino Mattora, few if any of which were true. Older students shared their own frustrations with Benihime Kujou and the student disciplinary committee by extension when the subject came up, but always in hushed tones so that none loyal to her would hear them.

 _Humans,_ he mused in despair. _Even at such a young age, they are capable of such wanton cruelty to each other. My lady stands no chance against such reckless hate. If I sought to truly protect her, I might locate a permanent sanctuary where she might find refuge from these revolting brats._

His beak clicked by reflex. And yet... as revolting as the behaviour of these children was, the mental image his impulses conjured was even more so, at least to a part of his consciousness. There was, to his shame, a part of him which saw no problem at all with locking Aiko away in a safe sanctuary, protected from all other humans and looked after by him, a princess as she deserved to be.

 _Not a princess_ , the rest of him thought scathingly. _Such a girl would be indolence personified, a pampered, submissive little doll, just as she said. Humans who become accustomed to being waited on hand and foot are likewise incapable of looking after themselves. I would reduce her to that, just to satisfy my own needs for her safety?_

 _No. She is not that person. She has no desire to be that person, even though I would be willing to do it for her if she asked._

 _But what if? What if she is injured, or killed, because I did not watch over her to the best of my ability?_

 _I wasn't here until a week ago. She got through all those years of her life in this world without incident. What is different now? She does not need a bridle. She is more knowledgeable about this world than I am._

 _But what if-_

 _NO._

Caught up in his own thoughts, he only now realized that one of the humans was looking directly at him. A thin, round-spectacled man in a fancy gray and white suit and tie who he had learned was called Principal Tetsuo Yumika, the supposed 'king' of Koashimizu academy.

He had also learned that despite being decades older than any of his students, Yumika was considerably younger than a human with his title was expected to be, and some of the teachers- particularly the older ones- had expressed their feelings on this arrangement in less than flattering tones.

"Fascinating", he heard the principal say in a calm voice. "Mr. Ishinagi might want to know- I've never seen that type of bird in this country before. Hello there, little one."

Startled by the words and not wishing to draw further attention to himself, Pelagio puffed up his chest and spread his wings to fly off, gliding directly over the principal's disappointed face, the sunlight turning his glasses into twin spheres of white.

 _Whatever good intentions this inept king might have matter not,_ Pelagio told himself angrily as he flapped to clear the roof and swept over the boats covering the southern coastline, all the humans beneath him mere specks now. _He permits the existence of the wicked empress Kujou, who actively persecutes my lady and her social circle. I have defended her honour once, and I shall again, if needed._

That was all that he would do. That was all that he could. His instincts as a falcon were useful, and could be relied on.

But the other instincts, the ones that were blaring in his head that told him that he needed to protect Aiko Tsuruga by locking her in a glided cage to the exclusion of everything else that she enjoyed in the human world... _those_ instincts and thoughts could be safely discarded. He would never have need of them.

She wasn't a princess to be protected. She wasn't a doll, or a canary.

She was his friend. And he was her sworn protector. Nothing else.

* * *

4/13 Sunday

Early Evening

Aiko was proud to have made it back to the coast with over an hour to spare. Time enough to store her new outfit back in the dorm room. She'd been tempted to change into her new favourite right away- a flowery black blouse and white trim checker skirt– but remembered that the place she was headed next wasn't friendly to clothes.

It had been an experience, that first trip to Tosashimizu's Tenjincho shopping mall, and of course she'd ended up buying more than predicted. They had also ended up stopping at a stylist after all, reducing her previous mane to a light pixie cut now that she no longer had her special hairpin to hold it together.

It felt so completely unlike her, as though someone else had been borrowing her body for the day to do nothing but have fun. There was no excuse. Only the fact that shopping with Reiha made her feel just a bit like she was hanging around a cool, grown-up older sister, and she wanted to impress her by buying grown-up clothes. _Just a bit._

Besides, with the way Pelagio greeted her, she doubted he would have even acknowledged a new dress. "The gate will open soon", he informed her with none of his usual bravado. "You should get to the bay."

They were there at the Yume Bay in plenty of time. Just as before, the final, dying rays of the sun crossed the water towards them, coalescing together with the wind into the rectangular portal of green light she'd followed Mira through the day before.

 _Yesterday. Was that really only yesterday?_ It felt much longer, and in a way it was. The flow of time was different in world this bizarre portal led to.

Aiko stepped out into the bay's active waters without fear, Pelagio swooping down through the portal ahead of her. She ignored the sensation of yet another school uniform getting wet, and then she was back on board Pelagio's admittedly magnificent silver boat form. The light of the afternoon's demise painted the entire sky an eye-catching scarlet orange, one which Aiko knew would last much longer than it ought to in reality.

"Let's get back to Mira-senpai's Land; we can't fail this time", she ordered just before realizing that Pelagio was already slowly turning in that direction, his white-feathered sails softly groaning as they shifted to match the wind.

She also realized then that she was no longer wearing her school uniform. Checking further, she reached up and felt the corner of the black-feathered hat that went with the new greatcoat she found herself garbed in. Accompanying black breeches and white gloves completed the similarities to the outfit of her Persona, Anne Bonny.

Yet... if the coat was indeed intended to be that, then it was a pale imitation at best. It was ripped and tattered in numerous places, most of its colour washed out leaving only a dull gray like old cleaning rags. The gloves on her hands were similarly worn, only the chill of the dark sea air stopping Aiko from discarding them as dirty trash.

She still had a lustrous fine-edged cutlass, which she put through several practise swings, but the entire pirate outfit was smeared with soot and filth, and only kept by virtue of being better than sailing the starlit seas of Faraway Lands in mere undergarments. _Not to mention fighting Shadows. That would look just a_ little _bit silly, though it might just distract some of the male Shadows. If Shadows have genders, that is..._

"Um... sir Pelagio? Do you know why this happened? I didn't come into the gate wearing this coat or the gloves."

Pelagio hesitated, but when he spoke he sounded genuinely uncertain instead of depressed. "I'm afraid I have no idea, my lady. The rulers of Lands experience a wardrobe change when they arrive that fits with their new homes, but obviously, _you_ are not someone trapped who is within your own Land. Perhaps that is simply a side effect of your Persona?"

"Maybe", Aiko relented, still concerned as she stared down the stretch of loose-hanging buttons before her, many of them missing, leaving the coat open to a thin tunic underneath. "If it is, then why is this coat so... well... crappy?"

His response was lost when a nearby patch of dark water exploded, casting waves all around it and rocking the boat hard enough that she nearly fell off. More important was the follow-up, which was seen before it was heard; a massive, elongated serpent shape lunging out of the water into their path. Its outer skin was a uniform matte black which made Aiko think of Shadows, but the front of the creature was an eyeless porcelain white mask frozen into a horrifying beast's maw of jagged teeth extending past the rest of the face.

Pelagio didn't need her command to change course around the serpent, even if he was more lethargic about it than she would have liked, and oddly calm about the situation when he spoke to her as well. "Ah, a Leviathan Shadow. My lady, would you kindly take the cannon? I am afraid I have no one else to ask."

Needing no further explanation, she darted down the steps to the lower deck, fighting the way the ship was suddenly bucking with the strain of evasive maneuvers around the massive sea snake. There, near the front of the ship, was the back end of a single cylinder of metal poking out through a starboard side hatch, a wide handle allowing for an easy grip. _Alright. Time to blast a Shadow._

"W-wait, wait! Stop!"

Aiko halted a foot from the handle, uncertain. The ship was still dodging as best it could and she could still hear the roar of the beast outside. When Pelagio spoke again, it was more grave than she had ever heard from the bird. It was as if the entire sea had gone momentarily quiet.

"My lady, this bodes most ill... I'm afraid that there is no mistaking it... **I sense Death**."

* * *

o


	7. The Guardian

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

 _Also I don't own Dragonheart._

* * *

4/13 Sunday

Afternoon

 **" _I sense Death."_**

Pelagio offered no further explanation of his cryptic words, his concentration now entirely devoted to evasion. Returning up the stairs to the top deck, Aiko realised that they had veered far off the course taking them to Mira's Land, instead headed for a smaller, rocky-looking island farther away from the masked serpent that still churned the waters.

"What are you doing?", she asked in bewilderment, pointing. "Mira-senpai's Land is that way!"

A lack of response irritated her further. "Pelagio, you're headed the wrong way! Is your sail broken?"

He said nothing. The serpent had finally recognised their retreat, swerving about to give chase through the rough waves, its frozen maw still obviously hungry for something precious of theirs. "Pelagio, STOP!"

Then they were at the small island, a spire of rock pitted with man-sized holes possibly denoting caves. "My sincerest apologies, my lady", Pelagio spoke at last, a fear-stricken voice emanating from all around her. "I... I must disobey, for this time. We must remain here for the time being, out of sight until the danger is past."

That made zero sense to her. Just a moment ago, he had been treating the emergence of a seaborne Shadow the size of a semi truck like a mere inconvenience.

"What?", she asked, still annoyed. They had lots of time to save Mirambela if one went by the tide, but it didn't _feel_ that way to her. Every second felt like a waste. "Was it really that strong? Why'd you tell me to use the cannon then?"

"I would not run and hide from a mere Leviathan Shadow", Pelagio vowed, sounding offended at the suggestion. "Their strength varies from place to place, but I recognise that type, and it is one of the weaker varieties. Even with a single cannon, we could have vanquished it. No... I speak of _Death_. It draws near."

Aiko frowned. "Death? Pelagio, you're not making any sense. We need to get back to Mira-senpai's Land, while that snakey-thing is looking for us here. Come on! Hurry up!"

Out of the corner of her vision, she saw the ship's gangplank slide open. "My lady, please disembark. I am going to transform back to my knight shape now, and I do not wish for you to fall into the water."

Aiko stared over at their landing point, a dusty, uninviting gray shore with more rocks than solid ground. "No! Take us to Mira-senpai's Land, now! I... I command you!"

There was a long hesitation there, long enough for Aiko to move around and catch sight of the Shadow serpent once more. It seemed confused by their sudden disappearance, raging about aimlessly on the black waters instead of pursuing.

When he spoke next, it sounded as though every world was a herculean effort to produce. "I am... sorry, my lady. I cannot. I am... your sworn protector, and the course you wish me to pursue is certain death. _Please_ disembark _now_."

Aiko spread her coat sleeved arms in surrender. "So what, we just abandon Mira-senpai? Maybe _you_ don't care if she gets trapped there forever, but I do! Take us there, NOW! Or I'll really-"

Her threats cut off when a house-sized object shrouded in a blackness that hurt her eyes to look at for too long, darker than any other part of Faraway Lands thrust its way out of the sea, creating an even bigger splash than the Leviathan Shadow had made before plopping down on the waters.

With a scream of terror, she sprinted down the gangplank. By the time Pelagio had reverted to his smaller form and joined her there on the gray shore, she had recognised the massive intruder as another ship, one that was well over three times the length of than their vessel and larger than the Shadow as well.

Looking closer now, Aiko was able to partly pierce the cloak of midnight black surrounding the enormous ship. There were some patches of colour there, mostly eye-stinging crimson red interspersed with charcoal black timber that burned without ever collapsing, and the bone white of countless lengths of rusty chains covering it in a seemingly nonsensical arrangement. The chains rattled eerily as the ship sped across the waves at high speeds, a prominent lance of a bow defiantly poking up out of the water. Even its _sails_ were made out of rattling chains shifting in the wind, yet it somehow moved at an impressively fast clip.

" _That_ , my lady, is why we had to flee", Pelagio told her apologetically once he had fully reverted to his smaller form, the round eyes on the side of his head drawn inwards. "That is the Reaper's ship, the unstoppable tide of absolute Death. I sensed its approach, thankfully."

Aiko could only stare at it, wide-eyed. Sure enough, if she concentrated, she could feel what her protector must have sensed earlier. The massive galleon positively radiated supernatural dread in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with its shape or colour. Even if the ship had been pink and covered in rainbows and kittens, she still would have felt the aura of its power and stayed well clear of it.

The Leviathan Shadow did not seem to possess such senses. To it, one ship was the same as another- meals to be devoured, and this was the bigger meal by far. It swerved again toward the new meal, frozen jaws opening just a tad wider to take a massive bite out of the Reaper's port side.

Then, as they watched in mutual awe, a flare of luminous golden energy powerful enough to light up the entire sea lanced out and pierced the Shadow's maw, causing it to rear back and howl in raw animal pain. As the ship glided past, a flare of blood red took it in the side with similar results.

"Lightning magic", Pelagio identified the attack dourly. "And _Curse_ magic, coming from those cannons. The most powerful level of those elements, Ziodyne and Eigadyne."

Aiko continued to stare. She counted _six_ square bolted metal hatches in a row holding the elementally-charged cannons, and that was only on one side of the Reaper's ship. _Twelve_ cannons in total. As it curved around the madly thrashing Shadow for another broadside volley, a cannon on the other side opened up with another herculean blast of neon pink.

"Psychokinetic power", Pelagio commented. "Psiodyne. Each of those cannons must use a different element at its highest calibre."

The Leviathan Shadow was a smoking wreck now. Its jaw was fractured and it could not retreat with the shape its fins and tail were in. It couldn't evade at all as the Reaper came around into a ramming position. Now Aiko could more easily make out the shining weapon at the front of the bowsprit more easily as it extended, which tore into what remained of the Shadow's mask. Its thirteenth weapon was a great shining scythe, hanging down from the tip and cutting into and through the creature's dark flesh as if it were warm butter.

She turned away, not wanting to view the resulting carnage she was hearing. She knelt down and faced her protector with a face of absolute honesty. "S-sir Pelagio... I... I am so terribly sorry that I yelled at you just now. I didn't know. I didn't sense what was coming."

But the side-mounted falcon's eyes on Pelagio's helmet showed no anger as they blinked at her, reflecting instead the screaming terror he himself felt inside. "It is quite alright, my lady. You had never witnessed the Reaper of the seas before. I _have_. Any Shadow or ship which falls into its sights is doomed. Had we remained there to battle the Leviathan Shadow, we would most certainly have been reaped as well."

Aiko could only shake her head, looking back at the cloaked ship and hearing its countless rusted chains rattle their victory. "Leviathan Shadows, and the Reaper... this dimension is a terrible place", she observed as if reminding herself of that fact.

The black-shrouded juggernaut did not leave right away either. It continued sailing about the general area in a wide circle for several tense minutes, whatever passed for its unseen 'crew' doubtless searching the nearby islands for any sign of life to extinguish.

After what felt like hours of pent-up terror, the Reaper submerged once more, leaving behind only calm waters lit up with the stars within them. After that, Pelagio insisted on waiting several additional minutes, just to be absolutely certain that they weren't being baited into emerging from their hiding spot.

Even then, Aiko couldn't help periodically looking over her shoulder for some sign of Death incarnate continuing to hunt them, as it did all others in this world or any other who lived and breathed as mortals.

* * *

Mirambela's Land showed no change that they could see on disembarking. Even though Aiko now knew its true nature and the ugly truths concealed in the chasm below the complex webs of walkways and hovering platforms, the 'main' portion remained an enchanting, brightly-lit wonderland of clattering, beeping retro-future tech that was fun just to look at.

She saw none of this at first. Once they were ashore and certain that no Shadows would come out to meet them, she stepped off Pelagio's pristine main deck onto the sands... and immediately bent over as if she would vomit.

"My lady!", Pelagio called in worry once he had returned to his bird-knight form once more. "Are you well? Shall we retreat and get you to a doctor in your world?"

She couldn't answer. She didn't _know_ the answer. For the first time since her awakening, she was lost.

"I...", she whispered in feverish pain, "I... I can't move! I can't take one more step..."

Pelagio said nothing to that. He knelt down beside her, massive round eyes not that far off from Igor's peering into hers with the utmost concern.

"The Reaper", Aiko panted by way of explanation. "That... was what finally did it for me, I think."

"The Reaper frightens all", Pelagio assured her stoically. "Only a complete fool would not be afraid of it. I have only survived here as long as I have by staying well clear of that cursed ship during my travels. I am a knight, your loyal protector, yet even I... the Reaper is the one thing in this world or any other that I truly fear."

"No", Aiko protested as her hands shot out to stop her falling completely down to the ground. The anger in her tone was not for Pelagio, but for herself. "I fought the Shadows yesterday, but... it really _hit_ me, for the first time, just now. We could _lose_. If we lose to a Shadow here... we _die_. We'll die here, and no one will ever find us. We'll just disappear, like Furusato-san and Mira-senpai."

Her head moved up, causing her hat to fall off and allowing Pelagio to see the face beneath streaked with tears. "Gone. Gone forever. Even my mom... even..."

Less certain, but unwilling to leave her be, Pelagio nodded. "That is the way of things in Faraway Lands, my lady. This is the sea of human consciousness. In this dimension, the ultimate rule is kill or be killed. Living here has conditioned me to that hard fact, but I forgot that you had not. My sincerest apologies."

Aiko leaned back, coat sleeved arms folded tightly over her knees, looking at the shore and the dark waters around it as if she seeing them for the first time. She wished he hadn't apologised, and her next words were sullen whispers.

"...No. I could go back. No one will know. We could sail back to Yume Bay and forget I ever learned about this place. I could go back to Koashimizu academy. No one will know. I could go to class, and do my midterms, and go shopping with Hayato-senpai and talk about cute boys and get my nails done and wear pretty clothes, and everything else a girl my age is supposed to do. Be _normal._ No one will know."

The bird-knight hesitated. "That has always been an option for you, my lady."

"Forget everything", she croaked bleakly, almost sounding as if she was genuinely considering that path.

"No one will know. Close my eyes and just count down the days as the waves start calming and the tide starts to go out, and wait for Mira-senpai's body to wash up on the shore, and pretend I don't know anything about it. No one will know. No one will know... except for _me_. _I'll_ know that I could have helped Mira-senpai and _chose_ not to... and that's the only one that really matters, isn't it?"

"I will know", Pelagio offered mildly. "But I would never judge you for making that decision. Our current course is an extremely dangerous one. I would prefer very much to keep you safe, my lady."

But Aiko stood back up and grabbed her hat off the sands. Her tears were gone. Her fear was... tamed, at least for now. It wasn't Anne Bonny's voice prompting her to action. It was hers. _I am Thou... Neither of us can yield to evil... because you are me, and I am you. And I was made aware of this other side of me for a reason. To stop the world's regression, right? Isn't that what Mr. Igor and Bart-kun said?_

She stepped forward, past her protector, towards the start of the metal forest. "Come on, sir Pelagio. We have an important job to do. Any Shadows who try to stop us, and won't listen to reason, will die on our blades."

Pelagio drew his sword and followed behind her without another word.

* * *

Neither of them were surprised to see a heavy guard around the central spire. Four of the large box robots stood ready, with countless fliers close enough to join them when and if the alarm sounded. The massive golden-eyed cyborg wearing Mirambela's face was nowhere to be seen, but Aiko considered it likely that she could be summoned quickly when there was trouble.

"Trying to fight past so many powerful Shadows would be a losing proposition, to say the least", Pelagio observed beside her. "And the front door may not even open for us. Do you have a better proposal, my lady?"

She smiled back at him, the spry confidence of her primary Persona radiating out now. "I do, in fact. Let's go find a Shadow all on his own. Or her own. Do Shadows even _have_ genders?"

Pelagio obviously hadn't expected such a strange question, but he replied smoothly. "For all intents and purposes, yes. The Shadow of your friend shares in her gender both physically and mentally, and I doubt you could make the argument that the Fomor Shadow you took into yourself was anything but masculine. It matters little. Whether they are male or female, Shadows are equally dangerous foes, my lady."

The Shadow that they ended up ambushing was another male. A beige-furred monkey in exotic medieval combat gear, once he had shed the mask of machinehood and started to fight them seriously. That was one major change that Aiko had noticed- the sentry robots that periodically accosted them no longer bothered pretending once they caught up to the intruders. They used their full strength, shedding their metal coating right from the start.

They'd learned not to underestimate a Persona-user. Or Pelagio, who remained the better physical fighter despite lacking a Persona.

The sword-wielding monkey turned out to be quite strong, though she had a feeling the large box robots would be even stronger once they shed their masks. When that Shadow beat her cutlass down and waded through her Aqua spell like it was a mere summer rain, she reached into herself for the other mask, the consciousness which had willingly joined with her to free his kin from machine slavery. "Fomor, smash them!"

The fat goat creature seemed bigger than she remembered when it was floating behind her, but the raw strength he lent to Aiko could actually be _felt_ in her arms and legs. _Whoaaaa! Is this what bodybuilders feel like? Cool! Feels kind of heavy though._

Though more sluggish than before and unable to use Aqua or the healing Dia skill, Aiko found that she could now cut through the monkey's guard with one grand slash of her weapon. Noticing Pelagio's sword at his throat, the Shadow discarded his own and fell back, speaking in a jittery voice. "W-wait! Spare me! You're warriors, right? I surrender!"

"I thought so", Aiko said, feeling strangely satisfied that the plan- _her_ plan- was going so well for once. "Actually, we just wanted to ask you how to use the lifts."

The Shadow blinked, disbelieving. "Seriously? You attacked me for _that_? You're nuts, lady!"

Pelagio shrugged whimsically. "Had we simply asked you, you would have attacked us first, yes?"

The crowned monkey could only agree with that. "Well, yeah. Princess Mira doesn't want any intruders around for the cleansing", he said. "Whatever, I hate pretending to be a damn robot anyway. Chafes my fur."

"Then why do you?", Aiko asked him with legitimate interest now.

The Shadow made a sullen face. "Because Princess Mira wanted it, _duh_. She's so powerful it's scary, and once I was trapped in her Land, I couldn't get out! Some of my brothers are into the whole 'beep boop, I am a robot' thing, but I'm sure as hell not! No freakin' way!"

"Then show us how to operate the lifts", Aiko ordered, "and you can go free. Just run to the shore."

The monkey scowled. "Oh _sure_ , like it's that easy. Okay, fine."

As she had witnessed yesterday, activating the lifts that took people and Shadows to the various higher and lower levels of Mira's Land was needlessly, painstakingly complicated. The user had to activate one switch among several, entering into an unlabelled panel of buttons a lengthy code designating if the user wanted to go up or down, as well as a second code identifying them as a citizen or robot, taking the demon monkey's ID for themselves. They had him repeat the entire procedure several times just to be sure they both had it memorised.

"Okay. I think I've got it now", Aiko said, putting up one hand to pull down the brim of her hat. "That should work. Thank you so much for your help, Shadow-san."

Once again, the Shadow seemed disarmed by her showing him such courtesy, considering they had been trying to cut each other up with swords moments before. He took a few loping steps away from the lift before pausing. "Hey... wait a sec. You two seem... different. You fight, but you're not assholes about it. Like I said, escaping from here isn't as easy as you think for us Shadows. Maybe I could come with?"

They were both equally surprised by the offer, but Aiko saw no harm in stretching out one gloved hand to him. "If you desire that, you're welcome to come along."

The monkey pumped his sword arm and grinned ferociously, revealing a row of feral teeth. " _Hells yeah!_ Oh yeah, I remember now... I'm no Shadow. I'm Onkot, a demon from the sea of human consciousness! Time for some righteous payback!" Then, just as Fomor had done, he became a stream of glowing particles that rushed into Aiko's face, resolving into another mask before fading.

"What a strange fellow", Pelagio remarked once he was gone. "Forgive my concern, my lady, but I must ask... do you feel any changes in yourself whilst using the Persona of Fomor?"

Aiko shrugged. It was a valid question, and she could see where he was going with it. _Personas are a product of the mind. If he's right, I might end up behaving more like Onkot or Fomor whenever I use them, and those two are far from the worst personalities we've seen in Shadows who might join with me. That winged Shadow I killed earlier was talking about eating delicious humans... yuck._

Fortunately, she felt no such shift in her perspective as she changed her Persona back to Anne Bonny, merely a decrease in strength and toughness, and an increase in swiftness and magic capability. "No, it's fine. The only other voice I hear is captain Bonny's, which is also mine. The others are quiet. I think I'll limit my offers for now though, just to be safe."

The lift took them up to the highest point of the surrounding walkways, and as they stepped off it they saw the quartet of violet images projecting from the spire again. This time from a much lesser angle, so they could both make out the face of the shape before them despite it being much smaller than previously.

To Aiko's shock, it was Mirambela. The _real_ Mirambela, not the horrible robot bearing her face. She wore a slimmer version of the kind of retro-future fasion her cognitions favoured, though it was difficult to make out details from here. And for the first time since she had seen her roommate, she looked genuinely happy.

"Hello everyone!", Mira smiled wide and honest, the quarter of projectors sending her accented words to everywhere in her Land. "I hope everyone's having a good day today. You've all been so kind to me. I'm already working on some great new inventions that will make your lives more enjoyable, but in the meantime I'd like to indulge in one of my other passions, if that's alright with you."

She need not have worried about being polite, Aiko noted. Mira's scattered audience was hanging on her every word, furtively talking to each other about what their genius princess was going to do for them this time.

The image on all for projectors grew several sizes, and as happy music played, the four Miras... began to dance.

The sight held Aiko and Pelagio in place for a moment as well, for Mira wasn't bad. Aiko couldn't recognize the exact style, but there was a natural dancer's grace in her step, twirling as she leaped and wheeled her slender arms about with practised ease. The crowd voiced their approval and Aiko wanted to watch more until she remembered why they were there and touched her guardian's shoulder.

"Come on. This is the perfect distraction."

Pelagio's side eyes blinked in confusion. "Distraction? For what?"

Aiko pointed down. From their raised perch, one of the large, wire-festooned tubes jutted out from their current 'tree' all the way to the uppermost quarter of the central spire. Despite being far larger than any power cable, it was only two feet wide. "It's a bit tight", she admitted gingerly. "But so long as none of the flying Shadows attack us, we'll be fine. I don't suppose you can transform into your falcon form here?"

Pelagio clicked his beak in regret, his talons digging into the metal. "Sadly not. Here, I can only shift between this form and ship form. But you needn't worry- I still possess excellent balance. Will _you_ be alright with this, my lady?"

"I'll have to be", Aiko said with more bravado than she felt, staunchly refusing to look all the way down. Falling from there was virtually guaranteed to be fatal unless Faraway Lands used completely different rules for gravity than she was used to. "This is all for Senpai."

The next fifteen minutes were a blur, a seemingly endless crawl along the pole stretching over an abyss of lights. More than once Aiko forgot her own maxim, and the sight of it nearly caused her to fall only to pull back up at the last moment. All the while, Mira continued to dance through the rainbow-lit skies, heedless of the two intruders crawling inch by inch towards the metal walls of her inner sanctum.

"Quite graceful", Pelagio observed admiringly. Unlike Aiko, his sense of balance was exactly as he boasted, and he could afford to look around instead of crawling along the pole at an ant's pace. "For a human, I mean."

They were a mere two meters away from a balcony when the dancing ended, prompting an echoing wave of applause. Aiko managed to crane her neck up to the now-massive holographic image they were parked beneath, which ended its gyrations and bowed.

"Thank you", Mirambela exulted joyously. "Thank you, everyone. Even in here, I can hear your cheers. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll continue to work on it and make it better, just as I'll keep working on my inventions." She winked at her audience and belted out a laugh across the area, one of complete satisfaction. "Stay tuned to find out which is next!"

 _"We love you, princess Mira!"_ , the crowd''s booming chorus replied.

Aiko could make no reply of her own until she was safely onto the balcony. The moment she was, she heard the rhythmic gliding noise that she had come to associate with the flying Shadows, and saw two of them darting past the pole as their patrol patterns resumed once the 'event' was over. Thankfully, they weren't watching the balcony, and it wasn't long before Pelagio found a hatch leading inside.

* * *

"She really does seem to be happy here", Aiko noted with a tinge of regret, glancing along the tech-ridden corridor ahead of them. Healthy purple lights lined it as well, keeping the entire sanctum well-illuminated. "Of course, I doubt that she knows how some of the cognitions here are treated, or that if she stays here too long, she can't ever come back."

"Then you must reveal to her the truth", Pelagio said sternly, preparing his shield and broadsword. "That the world of her dreams is nothing but a honey-scented trap for her soul."

Aiko nodded. "I know. I've read some stories like this. None of it is real."

That theory only gained more credence as they moved together into the highest floors of the central spire. Though the Shadow patrols were sparse here, Aiko felt her hair standing on end as they passed by a large number of stationary machines. They looked like the supercomputers found in high-end data centers, towering monoliths of wiring and lights and circuit plates that looked too complicated and powerful for _any_ human to ever build, much less Mira.

Eventually, without heading in any specific direction except up, the two found themselves in a wide-set computer room with benches framed around a large screen. The machines hummed and clattered endlessly around them but made no sign of a threat, and Aiko leaned down to take a brief rest.

"I wonder what Furusato-san's Land is like", she mused to her protector. "How would it convince her to stay there, and never return? I can't imagine."

"I can offer no assistance with that", the bird-knight said after taking his own seat. "Like you, I never knew the girl in question. I only know that despair is what brings humans to the Yume Bay, desperately seeking a better place to call their home."

Aiko didn't buy that theory. "That's only because they don't know it can become permanent. To them, it's kind of like an amusement park with no lines at the rides, and all the food is free. If they knew that their visit might be forever, they'd run back home right away."

Pelagio looked momentarily worried, but merely went back to spot-checking his weapon for marks. "If you say so, my lady." Finishing up, he looked back at the screen and his beak tightened. "Hmph. This must be the plans for the 'cleanse' we've heard about. How dreadful."

Aiko followed his gaze and gulped. Sure enough, the screen was displaying a map of the chasm area in Mira's Land. It was larger than Aiko thought, but over a dozen large groups of Shadows had been organised into a comprehensive sweep that covered the entire place. Next to the map stood the massive number '7' indicating how many days there were to go before it began.

"At least she's doing something for them, cleaning up that dirty place", Aiko commented. Seeing the creeping doubt on Pelagio's beaked face made her realise that she was mistaken, however. "Sir Pelagio?"

The bird-knight had tensed up, knowing his next words were crucial. "My lady, I... That is to say... This is not a 'spring cleaning' as you have suggested. Remember that the robots here have referred to us, and by extension all the poor souls down in the chasm, as 'filth'. In seven days, they plan to cleanse the entire Land of all the 'filth'."

That rocked her. She stood and beheld the screen anew. Coloured lines showing patterns that previously seemed innocent now seemed sinister. "That... that's inhuman! Why would they ever do that?!"

 _"Stupid filth detected."_

The words had not come from Pelagio, or anyone else easily visible in the room. Instead, one of the supercomputers seemed to spring to life, components shifting around into a bulky bipedal shape with a blank screen for a face. Aiko saw that it was even bigger than Mira's Shadow, and it looked and sounded just as unfriendly as her.

"So stupid", the sentry's voice droned loudly in the secluded chamber, managing to sound both arrogant and soullessly robotic at the same time. "The filth can't even process the reason. We will cleanse the Land because princess Mira orders us to. We are machines. Our only purpose is to obey the word of our creator. All else is irrelevant."

Weapon and Persona at the ready now, Aiko braced herself with a scowl. "Mira-senpai would _never_ order that! That's horrible, killing people just because they aren't smart!"

The hulking monstrosity seemed to pause, but that was only a prelude for its transformation, throwing off its shell as the other Shadows had. The screen cracked as the metal plating began to slide off into a red puddle. When it had reformed, the resulting enemy was nearly as tall as before, and far slimmer.

It was also still some degree of metal, various colours of the same unidentifiable substance composing its entire body. The dominant colour was a gleaming bronze shade, but they also spotted horned black metal adorning the creature's head like android hair, as well as an undergarment shape covering its waist. Green metal formed a ring of flower petals collaring its neck, and a plate of magenta armour adorned its chest, bearing a kanji symbol that Aiko was too busy to recognise. Its fists were collared in black as well, and a ragged scarf of the same flowery magenta shade trailed from the tight green collar.

"Irrelevant", a bronze metal face frozen into a permanent grin spoke, the only visual sign being the way its mouth and eye lights lit up with each syllable, though it sounded less robotic now. "We are machines. Whether an order is right or wrong is irrelevant. If princess Mira gives an order, then we must obey. We are her sworn protectors, constructed by her own glorious hands... and _you_ , stupid filth, are unwelcome here. You must be purged."

Pelagio blinked at that those words when he heard them, but it wasn't enough to drop his guard. "Consider yourself warned, Shadow", he replied as he brandished his sword, cutting through the sterile air of the room. "You are not the only one who must protect someone precious! En garde!"

As he charged, Aiko chose her own front and reached down into the depths of her mind once more to retrieve a mask. "Onkot, ravage him!" As expected, the she could feel how the shift in Personas bolstered both strength and swiftness this time around. More noteworthy to her was the way the knowledge of certain skills suddenly popped into her mind, just as they had when Anne Bonny had first awakened.

"Alright!" She drew the cutlass with a flourish, first focusing with her other hand. "Let's try this! _Tarukaja_!"

The result of that skill borrowed from Onkot could be measured from one's own body as well. There was a brief glow of red all around her, then Aiko's eyes widened as she felt even _more_ strength pouring in, to the point that she worried her body might not hold it all. Across from her, Pelagio crashed into the metal golem-looking Shadow with full force, cutting in several times with his speed.

However, this didn't seem to have nearly the effect it had on the Fomor or even Onkot. Squat bronze arms curled into fists bearing mere scratches, the Shadow punched back with twice the force, sending the bird-knight flying away to crash into a screen as he screeched in pain. Despite Aiko's boosted strength, she found that her cutlass did little better, only leaving a handful of small scars along the shining exterior.

"Filth trying to threaten me with primitive weapons?", the Shadow boasted contemptuously as it flexed one brawny fist. "Pitiful. I will end your idiotic struggles as commanded... _Agi!_ "

By the time Pelagio had recognised the spell's name, it had already covered Aiko in a knot of blazing fire, her scream of pain tearing at his heart. Yet, she still maintained enough focus to call to him in turn. "Damn... he's too well-armoured! Distract him, and I'll try Aqua!"

Her guardian lunged out of the wreckage and followed the command, painful as that ended up being for him. By the time he had flown back again on an even stronger punch from the metallic Shadow, Aiko was ready with her original Persona, a violet gush of water battering the creature's chest plating. It seemed to have a more noticeable effect, even pushing the giant back several feet until it straightened up and focused its frozen gaze upon her.

"The filth has learned some tricks", he observed. "But not enough to bridge the gap between her and princess Mira's brilliance, and not nearly enough to defeat her sworn guardian!" He raised both arms up now, fists and face both flashing rapidly. " _Maragi!"_

Though the sensitive equipment and screens around them remained unburnt, the thick wreath of fire covered them both now. Aiko fell to one knee, but not before chanting another spell. The restoring green glow of Dia covered Pelagio, but as he sat up he saw to his horror that her own burns remained and she was moving sluggishly. "My lady... why?"

"Go", Aiko gritted out, clearly fighting back hideous pain. "You can get out... run... he's too much..."

The meaning of her words sank in, and Pelagio let out a defiant animal scream as though he was back in the human world, sinking his talons into another enemy's arms. His frenzy of sword slashes bit into soaked armour plating, leaving behind a multitude of dents and scratches... but the Shadow still stood. He didn't even see the Shadow's wind-up punch before he felt himself careening back into the benches, only barely able to hear the Shadow's next words through the haze.

"A foolish move. That filth has magic that could damage and even destroy me, and she is also capable of healing, while it appears that you are not. She should have healed herself, and blasted me with more water while you burned to ash. But what else is to be expected of stupid filth? _Maragi!_ "

 _No... she sacrificed herself for me... my lady..._

Then everything was burning blistering scorching _pain_ and he could sense little else until he felt the flames quenched, and he was suddenly soaked as if he'd taken an accidental dip into Yume Bay. _Quenched... by water? Don't tell me..._

Groaning, Pelagio vaulted back up out of the wreckage. Aiko had trails of dark smoke leaking off her outfit now, barely standing after several such burns. Not 'barely', Pelagio realized in blank shock- one more desperate healing spell covered him, and then she pitched forward, out like a light.

 _She wants me to run,_ Pelagio knew, the realization clawing at his mind. _To save myself, and try to find another way to save her friend. She would give her very life to that goal, just as she said... no. This is not how it should be. I am her sworn protector! I am... I am..._

"Princess Mira's orders are absolute. Goodbye, filth."

The Shadow's steel fists rose, preparing to conjure another fire spell... and stopped.

It took him a moment to realise that everything else had stopped too.

He sat there lost in his thoughts, coming to grips with his failure to protect Aiko as he had vowed.

 _Failure. Unacceptable. Failure. I swore to protect my lady, yet what have I accomplished, truly? Shipped her about Faraway Lands?_

 _A rat-eaten barge could have done as much. All I have to offer are my sword and shield, both of which have proven useless here... accomplished nothing._

 _Nothing. Yes, that's right. I was originally nothing, having no memory of my purpose beyond seeking her out and protecting her. No better than that mindless automaton._

Until a new voice cut into his thoughts unbidden. It was male, young and a bit too upbeat, yet it also bore the lamenting tone of one accustomed to bloodshed in service of a higher cause. And... somehow, he knew... that the voice was his own, one which he'd merely forgotten to listen to.

 _You cannot allow this grievous sin to pass. It is not honourable._

 _I don't know... I can't remember... Why do I exist?_

 _The code_ , the young man's voice jarred him from his stupor. _If nothing else relevant exists for you,_ y _ou must remember the code. A knight is sworn to valour._

The images flooded in as the voice guided him, each one clearly depicting Pelagio not through his own eyes, but through Aiko's. His first attack in her name, when he had severed the arms of the two guard robots and raised his blade to face the others against all odds.

 _His heart knows only virtue._

His falcon form now, watching Aiko from a rocky perch, always wary of any who might attack the one he had declared his protection of.

 _His blade defends the helpless._

Pelagio diving down, cutting deep into the flesh of Benihime Kujou's arm, and watching as her two victims fled in safety.

 _His might upholds the weak._

Pelagio educating Aiko about the Reaper's ship, disobeying her orders to keep them safe no matter how hard it was for him to go against her.

 _His word speaks only truth. That is the difference, between you and this mechanical abomination. He serves his master out of fear, and would never disobey an order even if he knew it to be a wicked command. Such a being is not a protector, but merely a slave. Would you slay humans because your lady ordered you to?_

 _...No._

 _What would you do?_

Pelagio didn't need to think about the question for long. The answer was right there, waiting for him to put it into words.

 _I would ask her the reason for her command. And, if that reason was not honourable, then I would have to refuse to obey my lady regardless of the punishment. To do otherwise would be to disgrace both myself_ and _the one whom I have vowed to protect. Even if I must protect her from wicked impulses._

The other voice within him sounded satisfied. _So it is, and so you are. Thus, our minds are as one. I Am Thou. Thou Art I. We have sealed our binding contract under oath. Now... Break your chains of faithlessness! Unleash thy power, and pillage this dismal dawn of illusions!_

The voice was gone. Time resumed unhindered, beginning with the noise of unseen shackles shattering. Seeing Pelagio rise so suddenly out of the ashes of the consoles caused the huge bronze Shadow to hesitate, if only for a moment.

Pelagio stood, no longer caring of the damage covering his armoured body. The two round bird's eyes on the sides of his helmet, both of them glowing molten gold, locked into the frozen mask of his enemy.

"Hmph! You pitiful wretch!", he ground out through a burned beak, his disapproval hanging in the air like a curse. "A true warrior cannot fall to a trifling servant! I am Sir Pelagio, devoted champion of lady Aiko Tsuruga! I am the Guardian! My Persona, my innermost strength shall aid in this duel of honour... _His wrath undoes the wicked! I bid thee, come forward, GALAHAD!_ "

The Shadow's dead metal eyes moved upwards, beholding the power now manifesting behind his opponent in a great clamour. A blond-haired young man, eyes shining an inhuman icy blue, clad from foot to neck in thick scaled armour that showed evidence of hundreds of past injuries in the scrapes and gashes covering it. A rune-covered sword much like Pelagio's own was clutched in his clasped mail gloves, the blade extending all the way down to his steel-encased feet. A regal blue cape ran down his back, forever fluttering on an invisible wind, and upon his chest plate was the emblem of a dragon.

Knowing the victory already in his grasp, Pelagio raised his own blade as Galahad copied his action, both bird and man crying out to the heavens. "We shall slay this vile enemy! _Frei_!"

"Weak filth", the Shadow snarled, no longer holding any pretence of being mechanical as it raised both arms to complete its own spell. "I'll burn-"

Anything else he might have said was cut off when the room was rocked a neon-blue explosion fully the size of Pelagio, eating into the creature's armour and blasting it across the room as its own punches had done to him. Off to the side, Pelagio could see the smaller figure of Aiko slowly rising back to her feet, the sudden noise and light awakening her.

Charging across the room, he raised the wide steel shield that had been at his side since before he could remember. What he said next, however, had been forgotten for quite some time until now. " _Praesi!_ "

The bronze giant rose as well, its voice conveying the fury its face could not, not even noticing the transparent white shell that was now covering the bird-knight. "Urgh... where did that come from? Filth should not be able to use such powers! Princess Mira commands your death, and so it will be!"

The giant's fist flew out, the punch just as devastating as before. Caught up in the charge, there was no way for Pelagio to avoid it. The room filled with the clang of impact... and Pelagio, unflinching, brought his sword handle down on the extended fist, nearly breaking it off entirely.

It was the Shadow's turn to scream in raw pain, its turn to fall back in disbelief. "W-what...?"

Pelagio, uncaring, turned over the flat of his sword so that pointed directly into the giant's face. "FREI!"

The domed blue explosion rang out again, and now the false machine toppled over completely, the smooth metal of its body now a smouldering wreck riddled with fissures. The bird-knight marched over, uncaring of the frightened noises the Shadow was making from his spot on the ground.

"Damn it! How could he have my weak point... no! NO! I serve princess Mira! I am a machine, an extension of her glorious will! She is more wonderful than you could ever know... so why..."

An underhand sword slash forcibly brought the ruined creature back to its feet, and Pelagio pointed his blade at the kanji upon its tattered chest plate.

"Submitting yourself entirely to the will of the strong does not make _you_ strong, wretch. It makes you weak and dependent, never once making your own decisions. I have survived in this dimension without the fine company of my lady for years, and should the time come for her to depart this mortal coil, I shall continue to live on, as my own being."

A third Frei explosion blasted the creature back, both its arms now nothing but smoking stumps. Instead the colossal bronze sentry stood up on its burned legs, able only to wait for the killing blow. _Or...?_

The broadsword's tip closed until it was practically in his face, and the helmeted eyes narrowed into raptor slits. "You are merely a slave, dear Shadow. Want emancipation?"

"Filth would not understand. We are _machines_. We exist to serve she who built us. That is all I am capable of. That is all-"

"Fool", Pelagio remarked dismissively. "Mirambela Sorano did not _build_ you. You were merely tricked into believing that. Tricked by her Shadow."

The twisted mask slanted, looking as though it might fall off... and then the body leaned forward so that its twisted arm stumps pointed at Aiko. "Lying bastard... I will make you feel the pain of losing the one you protect! AGI!"

The enchanted flames gathered once more, flaring out until they impacted the transparent shell that suddenly covered Aiko. Though it shattered immediately, that was enough time for the fire to dissipate. Enough time for Pelagio's sword drive into the Shadow's fragmented face, reducing it at last to scatterings of dark red fluid.

Pelagio rose with his eyes shut. He was no longer surprised at the way his injuries were suddenly lifting away from him like evaporating water, the welcome green glow of Dia restoring his battered armour. "I thank you, my lady. For this healing, and other favours."

Aiko stood as well, once she had finished with her own injuries. Neither of them exactly looked pristine, but they could both walk and fight if need be. The pride on her face spoke volumes. "You did it. I knew you could. Well done, Sir Pelagio. That was incredible."

He stopped, about to explain that it was Galahad's power instead of his own which had carried the day, then remembered that the Persona had actually been born from his own mental depths, his other self. "I... must apologise to you well. I know now that I made an error in judgement, attacking your friend at the coast. To do so without seeking your approval first was to show a lack of trust in your own judgement of character."

Aiko closed with him, tenderly removing a stray bit of burned debris from his shoulder as she smiled. "I understand. You just wanted to protect me, right? You thought he was going to try something with me. Sounds like you've been watching too much TV. Not _every_ old man you see is a pervert only interested in young girls, okay? Although... if you do see any of those types, feel free to go nuts."

Fighting back a chuckle, Pelagio settled on clicking his beak. "I am not yet done. I fear that... I must end my oath to you now."

Shocked by his words, she removed her hat, clutching it to her chest. "Huh? What do you mean? I thought you wanted to protect me."

"I do", the bird-knight affirmed strongly. "Gods, yes I do. But I had no right to take an oath of protection over you, not when I have no idea what compelled me to do so in the first place. You see... I have no memory of my time before I began to sail the seas of Faraway Lands on my own. I remember waking up on some island... and there was a compulsion already there. I knew at once who you were, and that I had to protect you at all costs. Yet... until I met you, never once did I ask myself _why_. Why this particular girl out of all the humans in that world? Why did I need to travel to the human dimension and take on a new shape?"

Aiko studied the round bird eyes on the sides of his head closely, far from offended by his tale. Instead, she seemed impressed. "So you don't know why. I said it before, and I'll say it again... whatever the reason, I'm glad you did choose me. Why do you want to break the team up now?"

"Hmph. I do not", he corrected her hastily. "I seek release from the oath I had no right to make when I had no idea of the reasoning behind it, but you... your quest to rescue your friend is a noble one, my lady. And I will gladly stand by you and help you fulfil it. _Not_ because of my oath! But because I wish to, more than anything. So now... would you please release me?"

Aiko made a show of thinking it over. "Ehhhh... no. Hah!"

Regaining himself, Pelagio boggled. "What? But... am I not your friend?"

"Of course we are!", she rapped his helmet smartly. "But if I'm going to release you from your oath, let's see here, what should I ask in return... ah! Got it. I want you to call me Aiko. Just once! Easy, right?"

Pelagio took a deep breath, his beak clicking in the silent, ruined chamber. "My la... uh. Very well. A... Ai...ko. Aiko. I ask that you please release me from my oath, Aiko."

Her eyes glittered in the near darkness. "Done! Does that mean I don't have to call you 'sir' any more? Can I call you Pela-tori? Or maybe just Pela-chan?"

"You may call me whatever you wish." Pulling himself back up, Pelagio turned back to the hall leading out of the computer room to hide the glimmer of warmth in his own large eyes, Galahad's aura of resolute courage boosting each stride he took down the corridor out of the destroyed computer room. "Even that. For you... are my lady."

* * *

Enemy Profile #1

Nata Taishi

Resistance - Physical, Guns, Fire (Null)

Weakness - Nuclear, Wind

Abilities - Agi, Maragi, Power Fist

Background

Also known as Nataku or Nezha. Said to have an eternally youthful form. Once fought against Sun Wukong. Committed suicide to atone for killing a dragon king, but he was brought back to life using holy roots, and thus he cannot age. Has the ability to spit fire from his mouth.

* * *

A/N: I don't normally like to mesh game mechanics with stories this closely, so this 'Enemy Profile' section is a bit of an experiment. If it's too immersion-breaking for anyone, I'll stop doing it.


	8. Denial and Resolve

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/14 Sunday

Afternoon

"Hey", Aiko called her friend over to the next hallway junction in the massive spire at the heart of the false world that bore the name 'Mira's Land'. "Over here. Looks like we've finally found it."

Joining her there, Pelagio's eyes scanned the next area with a raptor's keen precision. After coming this far up the spire, another ambush was the last thing they needed. None of the patrolling Shadows they had encountered in the machine-laden corridors on the way to the top of the spire compared to the bronze titan whom Pelagio had recently awakened to his Persona, Galahad, in order to defeat.

Those fights _had_ proved an all-too-accurate reminder that no amount of healing magic from Aiko could get them both back to perfect condition after taking such a brutal beating. The only thing that would do _that_ is a good night's rest, if not several, for both of them.

 _After this is over,_ she promised herself. _After we've saved Senpai._

"I detect no enemies present", he concluded. "Shall we go?"

"I don't see Senpai either", Aiko observed more irritably. "Where could she be?"

The outer courtyard they beheld, which did indeed appear to be the spire's very top floor, was another study in sharp contrasts between the rustic and the technological. It took the form of a large tribal village with dozens of small thatched houses positioned in a double-layer circle around a large campfire. Evidence of other, smaller fires could be seen outside the circle along with racks of hanging food, both fruit and meat. Aiko might have wanted to snag a bite to eat if everything on the roof hadn't also been composed of the same stainless metal and circuitry as the rest of the central spire.

Mirambela was nowhere to be seen, but there were people of the same skin tone as her there who greeted them, including many happily playing children. All of them were clad in more normal, less-extravagant shirts and shorts than the ones living outside the spire. One of the only adults, an older man with a wide face and chest, waved to them as he spoke in a broad, easygoing accent. "Oh, hello there! Are you princess Mira's guests?"

"Yes", Aiko pounced on the offer without considering, smiling at the gift they had been handed. "We're here to visit princess Mira. Would you happen to know where she is?"

Instead of replying to them, the man smiled merrily and cupped his mouth in his hands. "Mira-meisie! Your friends are here!"

Within moments, the Land's ruler emerged from one of the huts, standing apart from the others in fashion if nothing else, wearing as she did a gown more similar to some of the women Aiko had seen outside the spire which shimmered as she walked. Her hair was similarly extravagant, braided up into a tall knot like she truly was royalty.

When they locked eyes, it felt like nothing at all had passed between them in the last couple of days, and that they were back in their dorm room instead of a mile-high metal tower. Mira smiled, lunging forward to embrace Aiko. "Oh, Tsuruga-san! I didn't think I'd see you here! Welcome! I see you've already met my father."

Even in the short time they had been together, Pelagio had already found Aiko to be one of the most positive-minded humans he had ever seen. Here, her distress was obvious, as was its source. Mirambela Sorano was not greeting them in the way that a pair of rescuers ought to be.

"Yes, senpai", Aiko carried on patiently, trying to play along with her for now. "Once I learned where you were, how could I not come here? I had to apologise to you about what happened before."

Pulling back, Mira shook her head. "Oh no. It's water under the bridge. I know now, that you were just trying to help me. You just didn't realise that at Koashimizu academy, I was beyond help."

"Er... yes. At Koashimizu." Straightening up, the shorter girl ran one hand down her greatcoat to emphasise that they _weren't_ in the dorms anymore. "Mira-senpai... I know that you're having a lot of fun in this other world. I saw your dancing earlier, and it was gorgeous."

"Our Mira-meisie is the number one dancer in the village!", her father- or rather the cognition of her father- affirmed proudly. "And a technological genius as well! Sometimes, I find it hard to believe that I raised such a gifted young lady in a family of eight!"

Mira flushed at the praise, but didn't take her eyes away from Aiko. "Thank you."

Surrendering to need and knowing that there was no real way to break this gently, Aiko put her hat to her chest. "Mira-senpai... we need to go. You need to get out of here now. This world, this Land... it isn't the paradise that you think it is." She spread her hands helplessly, trying to make her friend understand. "All of this was created to fulfil your dreams, to keep you here. But it's a lie."

None of the villagers understood what she spoke of. Except Mirambela. She frowned, leading Aiko out of the main village square, away from the others.

"Good", Aiko tried. "There'll be Shadows, but they serve you, so you can call them off, right? Then we can get out of-"

" _No_."

She turned back, refusing to believe what she had heard. "Senpai, please. You can't stay here. It's dangerous."

But now Mirambela had gone back to the furious stare she had drilled her roommate with on Friday. One that brooked no argument or persuasion. "You say it's dangerous, Tsuruga-san. I've seen no danger here. All of the robots that I've built here do exactly as I tell them, and I tell them to help people live and work in happiness."

Sensing Aiko's turmoil, Pelagio stepped in as well. "My apologies, miss Mirambela Sorano. I am Sir Pelagio, a companion of your friend. I am somewhat more versed in all matters related to this dimension than any human, and I can verify that she speaks the full truth. You are in great danger here. If you do not return to your world soon... then you will be unable to leave."

Mira was momentarily thrown now that she could see Pelagio's beaked appearance in detail, but it was his appearance that truly fascinated her, not his words.

"So?", she asked boldly, as if daring one of them to challenge her claims. " _This_ world is my home now, the one that I've always wanted. Here, I'm a technology savant. A genius. I can build wonderful machines and computers, works of art with my own hands, without even trying hard. Everyone here appreciates me, and there is no JCAP."

"This world is not _real_ , Mira-senpai!", Aiko burst out at last. "Furusato-san's body washed up on the coast, _dead_! You'll be next, if you don't leave!"

Mira slumped, and for a moment Aiko dared believe they had gotten through to her.

"I _know_ ", her roommate whispered to the artificial breeze, her heavy eyelids shut. "I know that this world is not ours. It called out to me... I walked through the gate, and I wound up here, in a home I didn't even know I wanted until I found it. I know that this is not normal. But... I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san... _I don't care_. I'm _not_ going to back to that place. Remember what we talked about before, when we first met? I've been given the choice between hell or heaven... and _I choose heaven_."

"As near as I can tell in the matters of human religion", Pelagio said waspishly, "heaven doesn't have _cleanses_ of 'filth'. Or do you not know about that? Surely, your loyal robot servants that you built with your own hands will gladly tell you, yes?"

"Filth detected!"

The disgustingly familiar words brought three pairs of eyes to bear on the main entryway to the roof. Mira's Shadow towered over them all, her mechanical red lens and laser cannon arm moving to focus on each in turn, though Aiko noticed over her shoulder that the cognitions in the village behind them didn't seem to care.

"Princess Mira", the Shadow spoke loudly to its opposite in the same hybrid of Microsoft Mary and her own voice, though both sides harboured a quiet fury. "This is a severe security breach. Have the filth harmed you in any way?"

Mira- the real Mira- shook her head. "No, it's quite alright. These are my friends."

That information put an immediate stop to what Aiko was fairly sure was about to turn into a brawl- one that they were unlikely to win if Mira's Shadow was in the same range of power as the bronze giant they had toppled earlier. The 'other' Mira scanned both of them again with her lens eye, and neither could entirely stop themselves from tensing up as she did.

"They were spotted in the dark woods, among the filth", the huge Shadow protested.

"They're my _friends_ ", Mira repeated more sternly. "I'll be adding them to the database, so that they can visit me at any time. Do you understand, _sentry_?"

The sense of stymied rage in the Shadow's poise and expression was obvious, but she relented after a moment, suddenly speaking more dull and robotic than earlier. "Understood, princess Mira. These two will be allowed into the central spire whenever they wish to visit you."

Satisfied, the true Mira nodded. "After this, report to me downstairs for maintenance. Your programming needs some adjustments."

"I'm glad she listens to you", Aiko said once the hulking sentry was gone. "She's the worst of the bunch, going on and on about 'stupid filth'. I wouldn't trust her not to attack us when you're not looking, senpai."

"She is my most powerful sentry", Mira admitted apologetically. "And you're right, she _is_ far too overprotective. I'll try to get that out of her systems later. If she really bothers you, I'll shut her down whenever you want to visit."

Remembering why they had come, Aiko shook her head. "That shouldn't be an issue because _you shouldn't be here_. That awful lady is your _Shadow_ , Mira-senpai. She's the very worst parts of your psyche. Why do you think she looks so much like you?"

But her pleas seemed to be having even less of an effect than before, and Mira waved them away as if they were mere insects. "I don't see the resemblance. If you came here to make up with me, then we've done that already. If you want to stay, stay as long as you like. But I'm _not_ leaving here. Don't you understand, Tsuruga-san? This is my home now. This is everything I've ever wanted."

"And what about your father? Your _real_ father?"

Mira gave out an amused sort of sigh and gestured back to the village where her father was organising some kind of social event for everyone, cheerily waving for her 'guests' to join in. "Don't let this other version of my father fool you. The real one, my real father... _he_ will be glad to have me gone."

It felt like a finishing blow, and so it was. Aiko could think of nothing she had not already said that would convince her friend to come back with them, and a quick check of Pelagio's worried face confirmed that he had no more ideas to give either.

"I will be back, Mira-senpai", was all she could manage, pulling her dirty captain's hat back on. "I _will_ save you. Even from yourself. No matter what."

The trip back to the gate was painstakingly quiet.

 _Dream of butterfly, or is life a dream?_

 _Don't wanna wake up_

 _'Cause I'm happier here_

* * *

4/14 Sunday

Evening

Aiko leaped through the gate into the Yume Bay's waters in a huff, its waves licking at her student uniform. Pelagio followed, his falcon form gliding through before landing beside her on the sand despite being able to sense her wrath without looking.

"That _sucked!_ ", she announced to no one in particular, throwing her hands up in surrender. " _This SUCKS_! How are we ever going to save Mira if she won't even... ARGH!"

"I share your frustrations, my lady", Pelagio seconded more calmly from his spot on the sand. "I _had_ briefly entertained the possibility of taking her by force, but... then the Shadows would converge upon us as they did the previous day, including miss Sorano's own Shadow. Thus encumbered, we would never have made it out alive."

Aiko kicked a rock along the sand, absently turning around to see how the waves had already begun to subside compared to yesterday. "The longer it takes, the calmer the waves... _damn it!"_

Pelagio took flight then, making sure to glide past her vision so that his wings would catch her eye as he perched on the nearest rock. "Please. We must compose ourselves, and think things over carefully. Screaming out here in the darkness helps no one, and it may even attract unwanted company. For now, we must settle our minds and prepare a new plan for success. You have school tomorrow, yes?"

Her anger properly vented, Aiko stopped, remembering where she was, and when.

"Ah... I'm so sorry, Pela-tori. I didn't mean to take it out on you. You're right. Even if Mira-senpai has welcomed us as guests, we need a good plan if we want to convince her to leave that world. Blasting in there and kidnapping her won't solve anything. It might even make things worse. Thank you."

He bobbed his round feathered chest as if bowing. "Hmph. Think nothing of it, my lady. I assume you plan to continue attending school while also seeking to save your friend?"

"Of course", came the automatic reply. "People would notice if I was missing, especially now. There's not much I can do to help Mira-senpai except when the gate opens up later in the day anyway. Until then, I'll play it like everything is normal."

"That would be wise", Pelagio acknowledged with a head bob. "Then you should get to sleep at once. I am feeling the effects of fatigue after such a battle as well. It seems as though awakening to a Persona is a tiring ordeal, ironically."

"No kidding", she seconded, cheered up a bit at the brighter memory of seeing Galahad emerge from her guardian. She had no doubt that it had been a serious mental ordeal for him, just as waking up to Anne Bonny's reckless power had been for her yesterday. Unlike he, he'd been a capable fighter even before awakening to his Persona. "Great job there, by the way. You really kicked that Shadow's shiny metal butt."

He could not smile through a beak. He did it with his eyes, wings and other bird body language radiating his pride. "Ah. Thank you. I live but to serve, my lady."

"Yeah, and that Shadow just _got_ served."

It was impossible for her to head straight to bed from the coast, however. She spotted two police cars parked near the girls' dorm, and the door to room 22 was already hanging wide open when she got there.

Inside, three officers in the distinctive uniform of the Tosashimizu deputy police had transformed her room into an investigation scene. A warning label had been slapped over the door, and it was clear that several items in the room had already been taken away as evidence, mostly from Mirambela's side. One of the officers, a young woman with chocolate brown hair tied into a conservative bun and sharp ruby red eyes turned to face her.

"There you are. You're Aiko Tsuruga, correct? The roommate of Mirambela Sorano?"

Aiko had never had a serious run-in with the police, but something in the briskness of their manner had her on edge before speaking. "Y-yes."

"You submitted the missing persons report, correct?"

"Y-yes?" _What is this? Are they going to arrest me as a suspect now? Please God, no..._

Then the red eyed officer's resolute lips softened into a more compassionate expression, breaking the tension. "Well done. That was very responsible of you, reporting the disappearance so quickly. I'm junior detective Nijima, and your roommate has indeed been missing for two days now. No one on campus has seen her."

Breathing out her momentary terror, Aiko relaxed. This particular officer seemed to truly understand just how scared she was for Mira, though she did notice a different, smaller type of badge on her outfit from the others. "Junior detective?"

Nijima smiled deprecatingly. "I only joined the force this year. This is part of my on-the-job training, going on patrol in an area of Japan I'm unfamiliar with, to make sure I can still do my job properly outside of my comfort zone. Don't worry about it, miss Tsuruga. We will do our very utmost to locate your friend. You have my word."

Something in her voice inspired trust despite her relative youth compared to the other two officers, and Aiko took her offered hand. "T-thank you, detective Nijima-san. I'm glad to see the police are taking this seriously after... after Ayano-san."

"Two disappeared girls from Koashimizu academy in two weeks", detective Nijima acknowledged grimly. "One of whom is now dead, or nearly so. This is not a matter that the police can simply brush off, particularly in a close-knit community like Tosashimizu."

Releasing her hand, Aiko surveyed the room in dismay. The officers had been very careful not to manipulate any part of the room, but they showed no signs of wrapping it up either. "I'm tired. Will I have to change rooms, Nijima-san?"

"No", Nijima promised with a shy smile. "We're nearly done. We only ask you not to disturb miss Sorano's side of the room for the next few days in case more evidence is required." Sure enough, one of the other officers was already stretching the familiar yellow tape across one side of the room, blocking it off. "Will you be alright sleeping here for tonight?"

Aiko nearly melted in thanks. Changing rooms now would be an incredible hassle after an unbearably hassle-prone day. She wouldn't have even known where to begin.

"That said, I only ask that you answer a few questions for us before we depart. That's why we were waiting for you to arrive."

Aiko answered the officer's questions nearly on autopilot, finding most of the answers to be a flat negative and resisting the urge to point the blame at Ms. Mattora. "We sincerely appreciate your cooperation", Nijima assured her as the others returned to the cars.

Then they were gone, leaving the room feeling emptier than Aiko would have thought possible. It was deathly quiet, and sleep beckoned... but Aiko couldn't do that just yet. She had one more thing to do first, and nothing was going to stop her this time.

Settling down into her own bed and trying not to look across the room at the web of yellow tape, she activated her phone, slowly bringing it up to her lips as she entered the number.

"...Hello, mom."

* * *

4/15 Monday

Morning

Aside from the matter of the tape cordoning off one side of the room and the fact that Mira was nowhere to be seen, Aiko's opening classes that week were disturbingly normal. Some of the teachers were concerned, others simply weren't aware of the disappearance. Student absences happened, and they were used to it. It took every bit of reserve Aiko had not to snap at Ms. Mattora during her class, but she managed it somehow.

It wasn't until after that class that she was greeted with reminders that, in the middle of everything else that was going on, she and Mira were being targeted by Benihime Kujou. Heading to her locker after 3rd period, she saw black marker kanji in the same style as the slur that had adorned Mira's locker last week. It wasn't an instruction, merely a label: 'SKANK'.

She deliberately slid her eyes away from it. The janitor would clean it off tonight.

 _RH: heard the news. Any sign?_

 _AT: ...No. I reported it yesterday. Police came to my room last night looking for clues. I'm scared._

 _RH: That bitch Kujou's gone too far this time. I bet she had something to do with it. Maybe she locked her up somewhere. I'll look around._

Despite everything she had seen and heard, Aiko considered that too much even for the most ruthless of bullies. _But would I still think that, if I didn't know the truth about what happened to Mira-senpai?_

For a moment she was tempted, sorely tempted, to ask for a meeting after school with Reiha and tell her everything. She was the only one here who might believe the truth, but what would happen then? She would be just as helpless as Aiko, more so since bringing her to Faraway Lands was too great a risk.

 _AT: thx. I'll keep in touch._

 _RH: you're a good friend, Tsuruga. Don't let anyone ever tell you different._

"Tsuruga-san?", a voice called to her after leaving fifth period, a second-year boy she didn't know. "You've been asked to report to the guidance office. Would you mind coming with me now?"

Aiko assumed that it was another enquiry into Mira's whereabouts until she looked through the office's glass window and saw the statuesque shape of Kujou among several people gathered there. While a hostile glare from her was expected, the guidance counsellor looked like he was taking great pains to look friendly, like he was on Aiko's side. He had dark hair streaked with gray, a businesslike white dress shirt and a wrinkled olive face that bulged out slightly, but that face held tranquil blue eyes that put her somewhat at ease.

The office was painfully quiet. The boy who had brought her pulled out a seat for her, taking the one next to it along the desk in the middle of the room.

"Miss Tsuruga", the counsellor began neutrally. "You've been asked to come here under the accusation of violence towards miss Kujou at school last Wednesday."

Fighting back the urge to speak directly to Kujou, Aiko turned to the counsellor, who she hadn't seen before now. He looked more like a teacher at his age than a counsellor. "I'm sorry, Mr...?"

"Ideka Ishinagi, at your service."

"Mr. Ishinagi. I was never violent towards anyone here."

She had thought that alone would get Kujou shouting, but apparently she had learned when to hold her tongue. Instead she kept one arm clutching the bandaged one tightly as if it had been severed completely.

"Miss Kujou claims that you pushed her directly into the flight path of a wild bird, who then scratched her arm severely", Mr. Ishinagi maintained accusingly. "Several other students confirmed this."

 _Several other students who she told to back her up_ , Aiko thought viciously, still refusing to look back at the older girl. _Reiha is absolutely right. You really are awful. I don't want to hold grudges against anyone. I don't want to hate, but you..._

"We had... a confrontation that day", Aiko admitted, placing both palms on the desk's stale wood. "Lots of students saw it. They also saw that the reason we had it is because she was tormenting Mira-senpai."

"Mira-san was there", Kujou piped up, unable to stay silent any longer, defiantly displaying her bandages like they were a trophy. "There was no torment. She's lying, counsellor. She ran up to me and shoved me, and she did this to me."

The counsellor shook his head and adjusted his glasses, signalling for the other boy to leave them. "I'm sorry, miss Tsuruga, but this is the word of a first-year student against a large number of senior students with clean records. However, what I believe happened is that you misinterpreted the situation and shoved miss Kujou aside, not aware that there was a bird nearby. Your intent was to save your friend, _not_ to cause any serious injury to miss Kujou."

It took a moment for Aiko to recognise the scenario as what it was- a plea bargain. Confession to a lesser crime to be spared from the penalty for the original accusation. The smart thing to do would have been to agree with Mr. Ishinagi and say that she merely accidentally shoved the older girl aside, casting her into the path of an unusually hostile bird in the courtyard.

But the memories of everything she'd seen and done in the past seven days flashed back the moment she tried opening her mouth to agree, and after several uncomfortable moments, she knew that she could not.

She wasn't the Aiko Tsuruga who had arrived at Koashimizu without a clue about how it worked, who could stomach lies for the greater good if that meant she could be safe. A Persona had been awakened within her mind, and its confidence was a part of her. As was its instinctive dislike for liars.

"Mr. Ishinagi, do you know where Mira-senpai is now?"

He seemed surprised by the vehemence in her tone, but not its content. "No. I heard about the disappearance. It's indeed a tragedy, and I understand how you might be on edge during such a trial, miss Tsuruga. But violence is _not_ tolerated here at Koashimizu academy, particularly towards an honorary member of the student disciplinary committee."

"Why do you think she ran away?", Aiko asked, feeling as if she was slowly rising up out of the chair against her will. "Did any student tell you about that? Did any student ever tell you the kinds of things that get written on her locker every day? Well? _Did they_?"

"Miss Tsuruga", Mr. Ishinagi countered with more steel in his words than she would have expected for such a laid back-looking man. "I understand that you are upset, but the things you're speaking of have no relevance to your own actions. The fact is that you _did_ shove miss Kujou in a violent way, and that indirectly led to her being injured. The same as if you had shoved her onto concrete and accidentally caused her to scrape her arm. Your outburst just now confirms a temperament that matches this accusation."

Instinct said to cool off, and Aiko forced herself to do so no matter how horribly smug the expression on Kujou's black-framed face was. It was mortifying to her, just how similar their faces looked, though they would never exactly be mistaken for twins. Kujou was older and more attractive. _I will never be like you. Never._

Never.

"I must confess a certain curiosity about the timing of the bird", Ishinagi mused more gently, leaning back in his seat once she had returned to her own. "The local seagulls are normally too frightened of large crowds to be so aggressive, even when faced with the chance to steal food from them. Perhaps the sudden change in the waves had them agitated."

"It was a falcon", Aiko corrected him, having no idea why she was. It was clear that her judge's mind was already made up, the fix was in, and disputing the verdict would only make her sentence worse. "A saker falcon, not a seagull."

The counsellor blinked in surprise. "Hm? An odd detail to remember. Are you by chance interested in ornithology, miss Tsuruga?"

She shrugged. "No, no. I just remember, that's all. Beach seagulls are way slower."

"That's true", Mr. Ishinagi acknowledged with a sudden thoughtfulness, putting a thin finger to his temple. "And the cuts I have seen on miss Kujou's arm would have been nearly impossible for a gull's weaker talons to create, even at their top flight speed."

"It was a _bird_ ", Benihime scowled at their dialogue, holding her injured arm tighter still. "A dirty winged rat that she pushed me into. Are you going to punish her or what?"

Mr. Ishinagi actually smiled at that, though it was impossible to tell which of them it was aimed for. "I suppose I must. Detention after class for the next three days in my classroom. Room 3-B, third floor."

Aiko had just begun to process that when Kujou sat up in her chair, their positions reversed in a flash. "WHAT?! Just three days? Look at my _arm_ , Sensei! Look at this blood! _She_ did this to me!"

But the counsellor had clearly run out of patience with her now, and he shook his head.

"As we have discussed, it was an accident. A misunderstanding. Simple bad luck that such an ill-tempered bird would come to visit us at that time. Perhaps if she were a more experienced student, or a repeat offender, the penalty would be harsher... but I believe in giving people a chance to learn from their mistakes." Leaning forward sternly, he gazed into Aiko. "It _was_ a mistake, correct, miss Tsuruga?"

Knowing that arguing would only make things worse, Aiko slowly nodded in compliance. "Yes, Mr. Ishinagi. It won't happen again, I promise." _Have to warn Pelagio to lay off her now. He means well, but a falcon attacking people and following me around as a bodyguard is going to draw too much attention._

Besides, the furious look on Kujou's round face was almost worth a concession like that. "This is _ludicrous_. She cuts my _arm_ open and gets off with three days of detention. You're far, far too soft to be a guidance counsellor, Ishinagi-sensei. I will be informing my parents. I trust you're familiar with my father?"

Ishinagi smiled and shrugged helplessly. "I believe all the staff here are familiar with Mr. Daisuke Kujou. If he feels the need to take time out of his busy schedule with JCAP to come and visit us, then we shall welcome him with open arms."

* * *

4/15 Monday

After School

"So that's the whole story", Aiko finished. No one had followed her out to the area of tall grass west of the unfinished pool which she had come to refer to as 'the cliff', and even Pelagio had taken a moment to make himself known, gliding in on the afternoon breeze to hear her tale.

Naturally, he sounded disgusted, head tilting side to side as he spoke, showing her both eyes. "I do not understand this human concept of 'detention', my lady. What does the school gain by forcing you to remain behind for extra time after your classes are complete? You could just as easily complete your homework in the dorm room or at the library."

Aiko shrugged. "I guess the big difference is that outside detention, you have a choice to do whatever you want. There, you can't. It's to punish me for pushing Kujou into you last Wednesday."

"Hmph. You did no such thing", Pelagio reminded her stubbornly, ruffling up his feathers in disdain. "You were too busy fending off those wretched harpies sent by her to threaten your modesty. I was there."

"So was I", she said a bit more impatiently. "But nobody except me can understand you, and Kujou had a bunch of other students backing her up. You can't really do anything about it now... just promise me you'll only attack someone if I'm actually in serious danger from them, like if they pull out a gun or a knife."

Despite her situation, it was kind of comforting know that she would have special insurance against that remote possibility. While Tosashimizu city didn't have much of a crime rate worth mentioning in the news, anything was possible.

His hushed silence after that made her worry, though. "No... don't tell me you...?"

" _Not_ humans, my lady", her guardian explained to her infinite relief. "There was a small flock of rather vocal seagulls on the coast who felt that I was in their way, and decided to attack me. Rest assured... they were taught the error of their ways."

Aiko could only giggle at that particular mental image. "Glad to see you're fitting in here... sort of. Any word about the investigation?"

"That man you call 'Principal Yumika' was on a lengthy phone call in his office on the third floor this morning", Pelagio offered humbly. "I could not get close enough to hear his exact words, but it was clearly a spirited conversation."

"Probably just negotiating his pay raise", Aiko commented in disgust, revulsion at so much of the injustice she witnessed at the school still lingering in her. _Truly a hive of scum and villainy... but also home to some people still willing to try to make school fun, or at least comfortable._ People like Reiha and Kotone and Mr. Takao, and even Mr. Ishinagi wasn't as bad as she had originally thought, even if he'd given her that detention.

"My... Aiko?"

Blinking, she turned back to him. "Yes?"

"If I may ask... why do you seek to save your friend with such vigour?"

The words ' _stupid'_ and ' _question'_ were on the tip of her tongue, but the feeling she got from his cautious words was more than that, and she didn't want to yell at him again after last time. _He means well. He's just... not that experienced in the human world yet. Give him time._

"Because she's my friend", she said after a moment's arrangement. "Because no one, not even Kujou, deserves to be locked up in that other world. Because... because I'm partly responsible for her being there." _I helped break her. I promised her things would get better and they only got worse._

"You are most kind", Pelagio stated, for once watching the clouds instead of her. "I have seen many your age at this school who call others their 'friends'... but I doubt that they would be willing to go to such lengths for them. That being said... if this 'detention' you've been forced into was the length of all of our remaining days, would you defy the counsellor to save her?"

That took a lot more consideration. Far from troubled, she gave a tiny smile. _He's smarter than I thought. I like this. Not just a blindly loyal guard dog anymore... or blindly loyal guard bird, rather._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a beeping noise carrying on the sea breeze. It led her down to the coast where the Fiddler's Green was missing for once, but behind a rock she saw the source, amazed at her luck as she raised it out of the sand that had gotten into its cracks without appearing have damaged it.

It was Mira's discarded phone, she saw. The display number wasn't showing an associated name, but it was definitely a long-distance call by the number. Ducking into the rock arches so no one would see, she hit reply.

"Hello?"

The voice on the other end began speaking a language Aiko couldn't fathom, accented in the same way as Mira's. When it stopped, Aiko tried again.

"I'm sorry, Mira isn't home. This is her roommate. Do you speak Japanese?"

The voice on the other end began to reply in that language, though in the least proficient way she had ever heard. Sometimes Noel and Julian had problems sounded broken and stilted when they spoke in that language they had already spent much time learning, but this man was barely legible. "This who is?"

"Aiko Tsuruga", she repeated slowly, to make sure he understood. "Mirambela's roommate."

"Mirambela where is?"

Aiko winced in familiar pain, remembering where she knew the voice from. It was her father. Her _real_ father. "Mira-senpai disappeared two days ago. We're still looking, and so are the police."

A pause, and then; "Principal Yumika told me. Tried calling her. Her phone where did you find?"

"On the beach. I just picked it up when you called. She left it there." _Must have discarded it behind a rock when she ran out to Yume Bay. Did she really not want anyone to find her where she was going?_

Despite his inexperience with the language, his words reflected pain and dread at the news. "What happen?"

Aiko tensed up at the question. _How much can I say? What will reduce the number of nightmares he has tonight about what might have happened to his daughter?_

"Mira-senpai got angry about something and ran out to the beach. That... was the last anyone saw of her." Lying to Mira's parents was a new ordeal, and it made her words nearly as clumsy as the man she spoke to. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice.

"Aiko Tsuruga, you are? Mirambela's friend?"

"Always", Aiko promised without regret. "I... if anything happens..."

"If anything happens?"

Carefully moving her mouth away from the phone, Aiko whispered a curse better suited to Reiha into the sand. _I just wanted to make a new home at Koashimizu. I didn't want any part of this insanity. But..._ "Mr. Sorano. If Mira was off somewhere, and she didn't want to come back... what would you say to her?"

Silence reigned, and for a moment Aiko feared she'd lost the call. Then- "I would tell her what I have always told her. That she is my pride, my Mira-meisie."

Resolute once more, she stared back out at the tide, watching the waves that were the lifeline of her friend's soul. "I can promise I will deliver that message. I can promise that we- _I_ -will do everything humanly possible to get her back. You aren't the only one who's worried."

"I can tell that", the man acknowledged soberly. "Even across a thousand miles, I can tell. I cannot travel to Tosashimizu at this time, but I will be thinking of her every day. All I can do is ask that you pray for the police's success in locating her. God help us all."

The call ended, leaving Aiko wishing she felt more settled by it than she was. _Pray for her return? That didn't help Furusato-san. Let the police sort it out? They don't know anything about Faraway Lands. No._

No, if anyone was going to help Mira, it was her. If anyone was going to answer Mr. Sorano's prayer, it was her. If anyone was going to figure out how to convince her friend to discard the world of her dreams and come home again...

Leaving the shadow of the arch, she stared up into the afternoon sun, then over at the Yume Bay where the gate to another world would soon be opening once more. If she went there now, Pelagio could join her, and they could sail the seas of Faraway Lands once more. _Not tonight, though. Not tonight. We're not prepared. It would get us nowhere without a guaranteed way to persuade her. I have to find a way._

The detentions were a serious inconvenience, there was no doubt about that. But there was an upside to it all, she reasoned. There, she could get her schoolwork done.

Because once she got out, there was a different kind of homework to be taken care of. A much more important kind than the usual. If she slacked on _this_ assignment, then the penalty would be a million, billion times worse than a bad grade.

"Come on, Pela-tori", she commanded, knowing that the avian guardian was watching her from some elevated perch without even looking, and would loyally follow her to the dorm even if he could not enter it through the front door. "We have some plans to make, and not much time left to make them."

* * *

o


	9. Bonds and Preparations

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/16 Tuesday

After School

There was nothing remotely oppressive about the classroom Mr. Ishinagi had chosen. It was just another classroom, desks and windows arranged ergonomically to view the chalkboards covering either side. If there was a sense of gloom or despair here, it was something the student would have brought in with them.

Slightly more disconcerting to Aiko was that she was the only girl there. There were three boys, none of whom looked like good conversationalists. They were like her- they just wanted to get this unpleasantness over with and move on to more important things.

Mr. Ishinagi himself addressed each of them with the iron immunity to argument that she remembered from yesterday, handing out several papers that she realised were personalised for each of them. They were handpicked portions of the school code, though it was so obliquely worded that she soon started to think of it as a 'constitution'.

After reading through the first paragraph several times, she thought she had the gist of it. No hitting. No shoving. No violent physical contact of any kind. _How about 'no lying about that happening'?_

 _No_ , she reminded herself as she stared out the window where Pelagio would occasionally glide past, merely existing as a reminder that she wasn't alone in this. She wouldn't let this place get her down. Too much was counting on her keeping a clear mind to let that happen now. Her phone beeped, but she turned it off. One didn't have to be Shukiji to know that texting in detention was frowned on.

 _Shukiji._ She wondered if he had ever gone through this himself. His relationship with teachers seemed to be similar to what he had with students, helped along by his being a straight-A student. How much would he charge them to provide information on which students had been breaking the rules in secret? Was 'information merchant' just a cover for the less flattering title of 'snitch'?

 _No_ , she repeated to herself, shaking her head and focusing on the other paragraphs for something to pass the time. She wasn't like this, not normally. She'd never had a detention in middle school, never had a reputation as a 'troublemaker' before now. She would serve out this time with dignity and grace. Shukiji had obviously found his niche at Koashimizu, which was more than could be said for her.

"How bizarre."

Her head shot up to see Mr. Ishinagi looking out the window from his larger desk. "You saw it too, miss Tsuruga? That bird has been pestering us for half an hour now. I can't help but wonder if it was the same one who got you into this situation."

 _Damn it, Pelagio_ , came the irritated thoughts. She couldn't even tell him to stop, but tried mouthing it a few times before giving up. "He... does look similar, Sensei."

"A falcon", the teacher remarked in amazement. "Normally we only ever get seagulls out here. Perhaps this one was carried in by a ship from somewhere else, and is confused now. Hopefully, he'll adjust... because he won't be able to return home."

Accustomed to not speaking in this circumstance, Aiko returned to the handout. It quickly proved boring, and her mind began to wander off to more important things.

 _Mira-senpai. She said that her father would be glad to have her gone, but the man I spoke to on her phone was concerned about her. What am I missing here? He's a part of her despair too, combining with everything else that drove her away._

Some of those sources of despair were easy to identify. But the gaps, the things she'd seen in Faraway Lands that made no sense to her, made it all the more apparent that she really didn't know that much about Mirambela at all.

 _Family of eight children,_ Aiko remembered from the cognitive version of Mr. Sorano. _And the smartest one, the one who was chosen to study abroad. The only one that Mr. Sorano was wiling to put down money for, leaving the rest at home. So, a lot of pressure to succeed, even more than most kids her age get. She went from the smartest one at home to the stupidest girl in Japan... even though she's not actually stupid, people just paint her that way._

Despite Mira's current predicament, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous. She'd always imagined what it would be like to have a sister or brother to support her, a family member who wasn't plagued by whatever unknown malady had turned Kogaya Tsuruga into a sleepwalker.

 _Not that I would take the rest in exchange, particularly since there's more I don't know about her yet._

"Again", Mr. Ishinagi marvelled from his desk at another pass by Pelagio. "I wonder what's got it so interested in my classroom."

She winced. _Pela-tori, please stop... he might actually try to catch you._

When the counsellor didn't rise, she returned to planning. _Need to think like Mira-senpai, understand how she felt, and what would change her mind._

Memories of her friend flooded her mind as if on command. That look of bleak despair that looked like it didn't fit her face well at all. It wasn't anything to do with Aiko herself, but with Koashimizu, based entirely on her experiences last year. _Who was her roommate then? How do I find out?_

The detention room was starting to feel more and more stifling as more things that she had planned to do once out began to add up. _I don't suppose Mr. Ishinagi would let me go early before the sun went down if I told him 'it's to save Mira's life'._

He'd probably heard that excuse already.

There was nothing else left to do but wait. Wait, and watch, and hope that this missed day would not be the loss of the final chance to save Mira's life.

 _That computer screen said seven days before the cleansing_ , Aiko remembered hopefully. In retrospect, she couldn't believe she hadn't made that connection earlier. _That was yesterday, so it's six days now. I have six more days to save her._

Outside on the water where the sun's rays were slowly dying out, the waves crashing against the coast rocks showed no signs of abating. Not yet.

* * *

4/16 Tuesday

Evening

The dorm room felt empty and dead without Mira in it. No matter how much Aiko tried to remind herself that they had only spent a few hours together in the dorm each day, always when waking up in the morning or going to bed at night, the feeling persisted, aided by the constant sight of the yellow tape that still spanned the middle of the room blocking off Mira's bed and the bags around it.

Thus, she couldn't have been more grateful when the knock on the door turned out to be not the police returning to secure more evidence, but Reiha.

"Just wanted to see how you were holding up", she explained cautiously, not quite sure how Aiko was handling the situation. Once that was made clear, she allowed herself a smile and accepted a hearty welcome into room 22. "Actually, would you believe that Jiachi-kun asked me to?"

"No", Aiko said almost immediately. "I'm just glad he didn't try to get in here and tell me that in person. And to see you of course, Hayato-senpai."

Reiha chuckled. "Yeah. He's stupid, but he's not _that_ stupid. I think he likes you."

She sighed. "This again? I've been here a week and you've already tried to hook me up with two boys. Besides... I think he would appreciate anyone who called him Julian-kun."

Taken aback by that observation, Reiha stared out their window as if hoping to spot Julian out there. "And Kujou would prefer us to call her 'empress' instead of 'bitch', but that's not happening in this lifetime. Jiachi Rosea is the name on his student application. He's lost marks for putting 'Julian Rosea' on his assignments before he clued in. Maybe Julian _is_ the name he'd prefer, but indulging him only makes it worse."

Aiko wanted to argue that point more, but this wasn't the time. Alienating Reiha over something so seemingly trivial wasn't worth it. "He's not stupid", she settled with, unable to forget the sights and sounds of Mira's Land.

"No", Reiha admitted casually. "He's just _male_. A boy focused on athletics over academics. Probably got his eye on a big fat sports scholarship. You see a lot of guys like that here. Not that they're stupid, they just find athletics more fun. Can't blame 'em, really."

Reiha herself looked like the brawn-focused type, Aiko noticed. Her gloves and boots couldn't hide how well-toned her arms and legs were. "Were you ever on the soccer team, Hayato-senpai?"

She smiled and spread her gloves. "Call me Rei. I'm afraid they don't let you wear these on the field, even if it's for a medical reason. Kind of puts a damper on any sports clubs or swim teams, but I've found other ways to entertain myself. Student disciplinary committee, remember?"

That wasn't an extracurricular activity that Aiko would have qualified as 'fun' by any stretch, but she nodded. "Do you think that I...?"

Reiha's black-ringed eyes widened in alarm. "Don't even try it, Tsuruga-chan. A few years ago I might have said yes and told you how high your grades have to be for you to be eligible for the SDC, but not now. To start with, you would have to be loyal to Kujou. Without her approval, grades mean next to nothing now."

Aiko's arms slumped to her sides, her plan dashed in just a few sentences. "That's not happening then. But... you're still on the committee, right?" She had seen Reiha a few days ago accosting some boys who thought it might be fun to juggle cafeteria veggie rolls. The bronze spiral-shell pin denoting committee membership was small, but unmistakable.

Reiha put a gloved palm to her face, mildly cursing as a bit of the protective makeup came off with it. "I... _was_ loyal, when I joined up. I was a dumbass. Things changed. She can deny people entry, but she can't just kick someone out who's been on the committee for years unless I did something actually bad. Heh... maybe I should, so I don't need to pretend any more."

"Please don't, Rei-chan", Aiko pleaded. "It's good to have at least one member on the committee who cares more about discipline than what country you're from."

"More than one", Reiha corrected her quickly. "There's some others there who still care, like Tatsunoko-kun and Ashime-chan. They know that if they quit, they lose any power they might have to make things better around here. So they stomach Kujou's bullshit for the sake of the students... which puts 'em one up on me."

 _Tatsunoko-kun..._ That had been the stern tall boy with the dark flat top who had organised the dorm room assignments. The one who'd said she had a bad memory. She'd caught glimpses of him a few times as well, a more active force for student discipline than others wearing the same spiral pin. Whatever else was going on in his life, he took that job very seriously.

"Don't sell yourself short", Aiko said, ignoring the meanings associated with the term for Reiha that had just popped into her head as she spoke. _Mole. She's like a mole in an unlawful organisation, trying to do her job no matter how corrupt Kujou makes it._

But Rei shook her head, staring back out the window into the night. "Boys like Tatsunoko-kun got in on their own merits... I didn't. Three years ago... Kujou was my best friend."

That rocked Aiko back, and she took a moment to study Reiha, hoping that she could be like Shukiji and detect the lies in her posture. No luck. "You were _friends_?!"

Reiha smiled weakly. "I _told_ you I was a total dumbass back then. Roommates, too. We were, if I'd wager a guess, about as close as you are to Sorano-chan. Maybe closer."

"What happened?"

The older girl's face turned blank, the effect aided by the white sheen. "I started to notice how she treated people other than me. It wasn't as noticeable as it is now, but it was there as soon as we joined up together. Preferential treatment to native Japanese students, and nothing but torment for 'foreign devils' that she saw as threats to the school's precious harmony. I ignored it as long as I could. I didn't want to lose my best friend, even if I had to look the other way sometimes. But then..."

Reiha sighed in exhaustion, turning back to Aiko. "Then there was an incident I couldn't ignore. Something I and the other girls on the committee were helping her with that she made sure another student would get the blame for. That was too much for me. We started to drift apart, and once she saw that I was standing up for the rights of students, she got mad and threatened to have me kicked out."

She laughed mockingly. "Nowadays, she threatens to do that to me about once a week, and it hasn't happened yet. Still doesn't excuse how long I ignored her shit for though."

Aiko couldn't help taking a moment to digest the story, trying to picture the one person in the whole school who had earned her dislike, and the one who she considered a friend together. They were equally tall figures that brought to attention her own lack of height, but Benihime Kujou had more of the classical Japanese beauty going for her, which Reiha would have been more pressed to pull off with her medical condition.

"Instead", Reiha finished, eyes radiating gratitude to have someone willing to listen to her tale. "I just work out in the gym after class. I don't have to join a club, and nobody bothers me. Well... any guy who does learns not to. Maybe you might be more interested in that, building up your strength. People say pretty girls shouldn't have muscles, but who the hell cares what they say?"

"Maybe", Aiko considered, trying to mentally pencil in one more thing to do when she had time and her friend's life wasn't in danger. "I have detention to deal with first."

Reiha scowled at that. "Sorry I couldn't stop that. I was in Barakato-sensei's English class. Didn't even know about it until Kujou complained to me that you should have gotten way worse."

"You couldn't have stopped it", Aiko promised, amazed at how calm she was sounding. She'd gotten over her initial anger for that injustice hours ago, but it still rankled. "You would have blown your 'cover' for nothing, Rei-chan. I know we can't keep it hidden forever, but it's better if Kujou and her committee don't know that we're allies. That way, you can keep us posted if they try something like that disgusting tampon thing again. Even if you have to pretend to insult me or Mira-senpai to keep your cover, go ahead. I'll forgive you."

Reiha seemed frozen by this declaration. She stared into the ceiling light, her makeup shining before shaking it off with a mild laugh. "You really are an amazing kid. If you were in charge of the cops, Mira-chan would probably be safe and sound by now."

"They're trying their best", Aiko defended, explaining how she had met junior detective Nijima. "I trust her. She's trying everything she can. Anything that the police can do to find Mira-senpai, they're probably doing. Tosashimizu city is a big place to hide."

"They did question the students and teachers earlier", Reiha admitted. "What about you? Any idea where she might have gotten off to?"

It was Aiko's turn to freeze up this time. _What to say? What to do?_

"I... I went down to the shore. I thought maybe she'd run down there. But I didn't see her."

"Hopefully", Reiha said more grimly, "that's not where she went. Everyone's talking about how Furusato-san might have drowned herself. Student suicide... Hell, I'm amazed we don't see it more often with how things are around here."

There was, however, a clear refusal in Reiha's defiant arm fold to let any of the information they had shared with each other get her down. Either of them. "So I guess that's why I'll stick with the committee. That's why I'll play along, no matter how much Kujou sickens me. If I can stop just _one_ student from giving up hope and surrendering everything... then it's worth it. Thank you, Tsuruga-chan."

* * *

4/17 Wednesday

After School

 _It is the responsibility of all students to be punctual at all times. It is the responsibility of all students to bring the required materials for each class. Pencils are not to be used for any purpose outside of writing notes and assignments. All students must accept the consequences of their actions. Notes are not to be exchanged in class without a teacher's permission..._

The handout was exactly as dull as the previous one, and Aiko was only reading over it because it was more interesting than doing nothing at all. Pelagio had heeded her words and was no longer flying past the window, at least not in a way that Mr. Ishinagi could see. She was alone.

The monotony had begun to wear on her senses when something else appeared as she was turning the handout over:

 _For Protection from Kujou ####### KARMA_

The letters and numbers had obviously been written on the back in pencil after the paper had been printed. They were large and scrawled, possibly done in a hurry. Aiko looked around, but none of her fellow detentionaires responded to her curious gaze.

 _Protection from Kujou? Karma? This had better not be a prank._ The obvious move would be to simply discard the handout as if she'd never seen the message at all. It was the specific mention of her 'nemesis'- _okay that sounds way too involved but I suppose that's what she is if she's not going to stop the rumours any time soon-_ that caught her attention.

By the end of detention, she had decided. A second opinion was needed until her final decision, and she knew Shukiji would be uncooperative.

 _AT: I just got a message giving me a phone number to call if I wanted protection against Kujou. Any idea what that might be about?_

She had expected a response in the time it took to get back to the dorm and make dinner, but was disappointed. Whatever Reiha was up to tonight, it was all-consuming.

 _This could be a scam_ , the thought kept occurring to her. She'd seen PSAs about the dangers of telemarketing scams, and those used by hackers. _If I call them, they could use some kind of crazy tech voodoo to remotely access my phone and steal all my info._

It could be a trap. But if it wasn't... _no._ _Not trying that until I have an idea who is reaching out to me._ Perhaps ten days ago, she would have been more trusting and carefree about such a message offering to help her with a problem. Much as she hated to admit it, Koashimizu had made her a more suspicious person in order to survive in it. Anne Bonny's waking had only contributed to that nature.

There were other phone calls to make. Finishing her meal, Aiko brought up Mira's phone and called the one number that she recognised.

There was a long delay, and then: "Mira-meisie?"

Even from a thousand miles away, she shook her head by instinct. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sorano. This is Aiko Tsuruga again. We still haven't found your daughter."

Another pause, and Aiko thought she heard a depressed sigh before the accented voice resumed. "Police are looking?"

"Yes. Of course. But... I was the last one who saw her. I thought there was something I could do to help them find her."

"... You are good friend. What do you want to ask?"

Aiko flashed back to the true last time she had seen her friend then, atop a massive spire of advanced technology that no one else on earth had ever seen. "We've been talking about how she was held back a year due to her poor grades. Did you say anything to her when you learned about that?"

The pauses continued, but Aiko didn't think it was just phone lag any more. "Mirambela is strong girl. Would not let words drive her away."

Pressing her lips together, she refused to back down. Hurting Mr. Sorano emotionally was a necessary sacrifice if she wanted to save his daughter. "Did you use any harsh words at that time?"

"... Yes. I was... upset... when I learned that she would need to stay an extra year, and use up more money. I regret. Mira-meisie is smart, smarter than anyone in her family. Smarter than me. I just wanted her... to have a better life."

 _I see. So that's why._ The absolute last thing she wanted was to be accusing. Even through the phone's voice distortion, Mr. Sorano sounded like the compassionate type. Not someone who would use harsh words towards his family often, only when he was extremely disappointed in them.

He sounded like someone who loved Mirambela very much, and had been unable to sleep well until he knew that she was safe.

"This... this is not your fault, Mr. Sorano. I think it was someone else who drove her away from the school. But what you just told me helps a lot. Thank you."

His next words were simple and straightforward. "I would do anything to save my Mirambela. If there is anything that you think might help..."

Considering that, Aiko examined the other options on Mira's phone as he spoke, and smiled in relief. _Got it. I've got her now. In two more days, Mira-senpai will be safe._

"Actually, Mr. Sorano, there is one other thing that you can do..."

* * *

4/18 Thursday

After Class

"Hey. Don't leave."

Aiko turned, surprised that one of the other students in detention was actually speaking to her for once. Regardless of which classroom, there were few that would dare after the latest label had hit the rumour mill. She was now 'Aiko the Psycho'. An obscene rhyme framing her as a 'violent delinquent' topped off with the implication that she was somehow responsible for Mirambela's disappearance. _Kujou's in fine form today._

This one wasn't afraid of her though. He wouldn't be. He was a rugged-haired guy with a disturbingly beat-up looking face and heavy gray eyes who had shared in her detention for the last two days, only speaking out upon seeing that she and one other student were about to pack up and leave after coming to Mr. Ishinagi's classroom as normal, only to find no teacher there.

"Trust me", the boy said, grabbing her arm in the gentlest possible way. It seemed as though he had his own reputation and was trying his very best not to scare her. "I've had detentions with Ishinagi-sensei for a while now. He does this sometimes as a test, deliberately showing up late to his detentions and seeing who leaves. If you go early and he shows up, it still counts as you skipping a detention, and he'll make you do _another_ one the next day. Don't fall for it."

Reluctantly returning to her desk, Aiko frowned. "That... seems unfair."

The older boy smiled and shrugged casually as if this detention room were his home. "Heh. He's big on 'honour', Ishinagi-sensei. He would say that you should know better. Not like we need him around. Just sit it out like usual. I was pissed off too, when I fell for it the first time. Don't want anyone else to make the same mistake."

"Alright", she nodded, facing forward as the other student followed suit. "But at least he gave us handouts, even if they were boring." Shifting, she turned back to the other 'delinquent'. "By the way, rem..."

The older boy didn't extend a hand, merely shrugging more lightly than before. "Keta Rurichiyo, third-year pain in the rear."

She extended her own hand, letting it hang in the air to his amusement. "Aiko Tsuruga, first-year."

"Otherwise known as 'Aiko the Psycho'", Keta observed without mockery, throwing up his hands when she glowered at him. "Hey, easy. I know the kind of shit that gets thrown around this place. It won't stick to you unless you let it."

"Easy for you to say." _Maybe that's closer to the mark than I believed. Maybe this whole Faraway Lands Persona stuff is just me actually going crazy._

 _Maybe I_ am _responsible for Mira-senpai's disappearance._

Maybe all of this was just her going crazy for real. Maybe everything about the other world was a hallucination, and she truly was insane.

 _No._ She shook the vile course her imagination was leading down away. _If I am, then whatever. I won't even notice, already talking to birds and having dreams about creepy long-nosed old men with elf ears and eyebrows like tree branches. If I'm not, then I have to do this. No one else can._

Further talk between the two was interrupted when the detention's supervisor finally arrived. It wasn't Mr. Ishinagi, however. There was only one teacher in the school with such bristly white hair and weathered skin- Mr. Umaeda.

"Good afternoon", he greeted them after closing the door with more vigour in his voice than his stooped appearance suggested. "Mr. Ishinagi was busy today, so he asked me to take over this detention for him. I'm glad to see none of you left early."

Aiko nearly sat up from excitement. Here was the teacher she'd been wanting to speak to for days, but never had the time or the courage to do it.

"What looks like an easy way out can often be a trap", Umaeda continued, reaching into the small black bag he had brought with him. "That being said, I see no reason to make this stay any less pleasant than it must be. Honour should be rewarded, after all."

He had more handouts, she realised. These were not more school rules, but review material from a math class she wasn't taking. It looked complicated, perhaps too advanced for her to comprehend, but still far more interesting than what they'd been fed the last two days.

Across from her, Keta was smirking, speaking in a hushed tone. "Notes from his class, third-year. A free preview for you, and a chance to review for me."

When Aiko refused to comment, he made a hand motion to get her attention. "Hey, he meant what he said. I've had him before too. We can talk as long as we're not too loud."

Aiko blinked. It was amazing that after only two days being unable to speak in this room unless the teacher asked a question, it suddenly felt forbidden to speak to anyone else while under supervision. Mr. Umaeda only seemed to be giving them half his attention at best, the other half focused on reading some kind of sports magazine.

Testing the air to see what she could get away with, she breathed a brief thank you to the ancient teacher before facing Keta. "I was going to ask about this number I saw on my handout yesterday. 'Protection from Kujou'? 'Karma'? I don't think Ishinagi-sensei wrote that."

"Noooo", Keta agreed, still keeping his voice carefully hushed but perfectly legible even as the other students began to speak in careful whispers. "I've heard about that though. Some group of students trying to fight back against the disciplinary committee. They never reached out to me though. Probably 'cause I..."

Aiko hated when people just trailed off like that. It left her imagination to fill in the blanks, and eventually one of those blanks would issue forth from her mouth to fill the uncomfortable silence. "You were never targeted by Kujou?"

"I was going to say, because I'm a native Japanese", Keta amended sheepishly. "Your reason sounds way better though. I think I'll go with that."

"Do you think I should call them?"

The indecision was clear on his thick-lipped face before he spoke. "Your choice, Tsuruga-san. I haven't seen them do much of anything yet, so they're probably not well organised. Just watch yourself if you decide to join up- you don't want to end up back here again, right?"

"No", she agreed vehemently. "What about you? Why are you here so often, Rurichiyo-san?"

His face fell and he slumped back into his seat. "Sorry. That's a secret. Let's just say I'm lazy. Like, really lazy. That's what Ishinagi says."

He seemed content to study the handout after that, which actually suited her just fine. _Keta_ _Rurichiyo... I hope you get out of here soon._

"Umaeda-sensei?", she tried hesitantly.

The teacher looked up from his magazine slowly, as if trying convince the students that he'd fallen asleep, another 'trap'. "Miss Tsuruga?"

She felt like she ought to stand for this, but locked down her knees. "I was told that you run the fencing club. I'd... like to join."

Something in the teacher's eyes shimmered before he barked out a soft laugh. His voice sounded quavery, like a cascade of feathers. "Ah, I must apologise if you saw that bulletin board message, Miss Tsuruga. It's been there without anyone taking it down as they ought to. I haven't had students attend my fencing lessons for years. Lack of interest, you see."

 _So, Julian was right._ Still, recent developments had bolstered what was previously just a passing interest.

"But you _did_ teach it. If a student wants to, then they ought to be allowed in, right?"

Mr. Umaeda picked at his beard, his bloodshot eyes reflecting a profound weariness. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Miss Tsuruga. But the school rules state that a club with fewer than four student applicants is a waste of time and should not be bothered with. Now, I teach mathematics. And, occasionally supervise detentions."

Aiko found it hard to believe that Koashimizu's students would enjoy math more than a fencing class, but the defeat in the ancient teacher's bearded face spoke volumes.

She waited until detention was over and the others had left before trying again. "I _have_ been reading the school rules, Umaeda-sensei. Some- okay, a _lot_ of it is kind of vague, but I did read that it's the club leader's responsibility to take down notices about their club when that information becomes out of date."

Umaeda began packing up his bag, coldly folding up the magazine. "And your point, miss Tsuruga?"

Knowing she would only have one chance, she held his gaze. Due to age, he was only slightly above her height instead of a full head taller like Mr. Takao or Ms. Mattora.

"I'm saying that if you had given up on it, you would have taken the message down yourself. But you kept it, hoping that someone might see it and get interested. Well... someone has."

She caught herself mentally thanking Anne Bonny. She was nearly positive that getting those words out without that small flame of confidence shimmering in the back of her head would have been impossible.

 _Sometimes, people need to hear what they don't want to. I learned that myself when Mira-senpai got mad at me._

Just like the last two days, it would be too late to go to Faraway Lands now. But not too late, perhaps, to make an investment in someone whose teachings could help immensely.

Mr. Umaeda took all this in calmly, trying in vain to look as apathetic and disinterested as all the students who had passed on his club. And failing, mostly. The way he was picking at his beard now betrayed an energy long buried.

"You do seem to be very determined in this, Miss Tsuruga. I don't see many girls like you in my classes these days. However, rules are rules. Perhaps, if more than one student were to show interest, then..."

"If someone else wants to join with me", Aiko finished pleadingly. "Then will you consider it?"

Crinkled lips twisted into an appreciative smile. "I shall consider it. After all, 'a stream is the herald of a river'."

She gave an anxious laugh. She'd triumphed, but she didn't want him to get the wrong idea either. "Don't expect me to make it popular all of a sudden. I'm 'Aiko the Psycho', in case you didn't hear."

"I didn't", he commented, nose wrinkling with a pronounced distaste for that derogatory nicknames students gave each other. "Nor do I expect any popularity. Fencing is widely considered a sport far past its time, a relic of a bygone age." He gave a bitter chuckle. "Now, if my club was education in how to text or use phones to take pictures, youngsters would flock to it, more's the pity."

"Mira-senpai might find that club useful", Aiko commented before everything else connected with the name of her roommate caught up to her and she covered her stinging eyes. 'Uh... I'm sorry."

"Don't be", the teacher said, sounding rather like a martial order and placing a withered hand on her shoulder. " _That_ , I heard of. That poor girl, victim to the rot that's infected this academy for far too long... I'm sure she has dominated your thoughts lately. You mustn't despair, miss Tsuruga. If she can be found, then the police will find her. It's understandable if you desire something to take your mind off this tragedy. Very well. If another student expresses interest, then I shall honour our arrangement."

Her tears weren't faked, she was stunned to realise. Glad of it, however- an arrangement forged out of a moment's pity towards a poor little crying girl was not the kind she wanted. Drawing back, she sniffed and gave an honest bow to him.

" _Thank you very much, Umaeda-sensei!"_

* * *

4/18 Thursday

The storm's thunder crashed at the windows as if it were a giant beast trying to get in and devour all within the Velvet Room. Perhaps it was.

The room seemed gloomier than Aiko remembered, but somehow the soft blue walls never fully lost their light. Neither did its occupants, and for the first time she wondered if Mr. Igor and Bartholomew ever had to eat or rest. _What are they, exactly? Not human, obviously not Shadows or Personas, then_ what _?_

Bartholomew welcomed her back, though Igor seemed a bit more sombre than normal despite wearing his usual toothy rictus. "The waves of humanity's sea of consciousness grow turbid. Stagnant doldrums have begun to set in. Before much longer, your friend shall be lost to the world she once knew forever."

His youthful attendant helped Aiko into her oak chair, one black gloved hand pressed over the curled 'treasure map' on the table. "My master is correct, my aspiring Dream Voyager. Have you decided yet on a plan of action?"

Aiko didn't flinch from their words. She'd almost expected this ever since she'd started wondering about the exact nature of the Velvet Room, or the Velvet Ship, or whatever it really was. The fact that she had been brought her in her dreams when specifically thinking about wanting to go there only confirmed the theory.

Fortunately, she was ready now.

"I have. If what I have to show Mira-senpai doesn't convince her to leave, then nothing will. Of course, I know it won't be quite _that_ easy. Her Shadow, that big sentry bot, pretends to be loyal, but she won't permit her 'princess' to return home. We'll have to fight."

"Indeed", Igor nodded, nearly hitting the table with the tip of his nose. "That particular Shadow was formed from the suppressed spite of the Land's ruler. If the Land's ruler abandons her resentment and departs from the world of her dreams by her own will, then the Shadow can no longer exist in that world."

 _Confirming another theory,_ Aiko mused in satisfaction. "That will release the other Shadows from her too, right? They won't be forced to pretend to be mindless robots any more?"

Bartholomew actually sounded amused by her question, his single brown eye curling up in scorn at her as his gaze hardened.

"My, my. Are you actually concerned for the welfare of _Shadows_ , now? The same Shadows which regularly seek to devour you and your friend? How very compassionate of you, dream voyager... but remember well that such compassion can become a weakness if you allow it."

"The answer to your question is twofold", Igor followed more forwardly.

"It is your friend's own Shadow who has trapped so many lesser Shadows within those masks, which blot out their true identities, and forced them to become servants. However... shattering the illusion will only release those Shadows who secretly held onto their own free will and did not fully embrace the role that is being thrust upon them. Just as is the case with humans, the Shadows who have completely and fully given in to their own delusions cannot be saved."

"I guess it's because I talked with some of them", Aiko offered nervously, not quite getting all of what they were saying. "The ones who joined with me didn't want to be there. They didn't have a choice but to pretend. Doesn't matter if you're a human or a Shadow... I _don't_ like seeing living beings in slavery."

Seeing how the answer was directed at _him_ instead of Igor, the blue-garbed attendant laughed and brushed back his sandy bangs away from his eye. "I must assure you, dream voyager, that I serve my master entirely at my own behest. In truth... it is far more liberty than I deserve, given my past actions."

She frowned. _His past actions? Did he used to be a human? Or a really nasty Shadow?_

"Indeed, your service as an attendant thus far has been quite commendable", Igor complimented him back without shifting his face away from their guest. "Are preparations for the ritual on schedule for our guest?"

"Of course, master", Bartholomew vowed with a level of professional courtesy that reminded Aiko of how Pelagio acted around her. "It should be ready for you by the next time you come back here. Before that time, I would advise the dream voyager to cultivate as many bonds as possible with her potential allies."

That, she hadn't expected. "Huh? Bonds? What does that have to do with anything?"

" _Everything_ ", Igor said simply. Producing a deck of cards from a sleeve that didn't look like it could hold anything, he spread them across the map-laden table. The suits didn't look like the usual gaming variety, however. Aiko took a moment to recognise them as tarot cards. Their backs showed a stylish, dual-coloured mask with curved eyes.

"As the dimension of Faraway Lands is the sea of human consciousness", Igor continued as he spread his arms across the table, "your potential in that world is altered appropriately when your own thoughts, or those of one who is close to you, change significantly. You have done well so far in beginning to forge your bonds with several of the various Arcana, though each of them still have a long way to develop. Behold the fate that lies within the cards."

The cards he had left on the table were face up and alone, each one of them corresponding to an Arcana besides the 'Fool' tarot which she had been given on her first visit. First on the left was a card depicting a bestial lion with a thin, pale-skinned woman resting at its side. Despite its fearsome appearance, the lion showed no signs of ever bringing harm to the one nestled beside it.

"The Strength Arcana", Bartholomew provided as he took a seat beside her. "The Arcana of the Guardian, representing strength of virtue and dedication over brute force."

"Pela-tori", Aiko echoed without needing any further clues, her curious eyes shifting over to the next card beside it. This one showed a nobleman crowned by a green wreath, mounted upon a wooden cart driven by twin beasts of burden.

"The Chariot Arcana, representing victory, confidence, and self-assertion. Your most recent discovery, a master who will teach you both discipline and perseverance through combat."

"Umaeda-sensei", she deduced, a bit less certain than the previous one since their classes had not yet begun. The next Arcana placed on the table was a horrific sight, a horned goat demon in loincloth, mouth cast into an arrogant sneer.

"The Devil Arcana. Your antithesis. The one who tests your boundaries, and seeks to see just how far you are willing to go to see your desires fulfilled."

But this one, she couldn't even hazard a guess at. She had some ideas, but no desire to voice them. "I'm sorry, I can't... Next one, please?"

The next was a card showing a red-winged angel standing upon the waters of a lake, her face an expression of perfect serenity.

"The Temperance. Like the Devil, this is one who will use an experienced and subtle hand to try to bring forth the best that they see in you. _Unlike_ the Devil, this effort will be entirely intentional on their part."

"Ishinagi-sensei", Aiko guessed. The guidance counsellor had some steel in him, but she knew now that was in service of a desire to do... exactly what Bartholomew had said. To to the right of that was a card depicting a rising sun, its golden rays covering the land spread before it.

"The Sun. A source of life that burns away darkness and doubt. Though it cannot always be there, it remains a comforting constant if one is willing to embrace its light."

This one was difficult as well, and Aiko was on the verge of passing once more when a certain mental image flashed into her mind from not so long ago, and Bartholomew seemed to sense her confirmation.

"My mom... Kogaya", she told him in near-absolute confidence.

"Your mother is very sick", the young attendant observed gravely, almost sympathetically. "In mind, not in body. She is cursed by an immense grief of the soul, of which it is too painful for her to speak. You mustn't hate her for being unable to take care of you as a normal mother should."

"I don't hate her", Aiko told herself, hoping it was actually true. Her actions in the past few weeks suggested otherwise. Tears threatened to well up just like when they had been talking on the phone, but she forced them back this time. "Not anymore. It's just... too tiring to spend all your time hating someone, y'know? Especially her. She's still my mom. She's trying her best, I know. It's just that her best isn't very good. One day... one day, she'll be ready to tell me everything about my father."

"With your help, one day that woman may indeed break her curse", Igor acknowledged. "The true question is if that is what you truly desire."

For the first time since meeting him, Aiko glared venom at Igor. "Enough riddles, please. I didn't come here to chat with you about my mom. What's that last one?"

For the card on the right end of the table was a detailed picture blurred by rays of golden light, even more intense than that of the Sun Arcana. Behind the rays, a winged figure she took to be a Goddess could be seen peering down through a bank of white clouds at dozens of traditionally-dressed peasantry rising out of open graves, who in turn looked to the skies to behold her.

"The Judgement Arcana", Bartholomew finished. "Representing absolution from past sins, and decisions that shall affect the entire world. What of it, dream voyager? Do you have any idea as to whom this might represent?"

On this, she had to admit defeat. "Sorry, Bart-kun. No one comes to mind." Finishing up, she scanned the table carefully for any additional cards. "Besides, aren't we missing a few people here? What about Rosea-kun, Niyago-kun, Hayato-senpai and Noel-kun, and... and Mira-senpai?"

"The confidants you have mentioned all have important roles to play in fighting off the coming regression", Igor explained without missing a beat. "However, because they have yet to reveal their true hearts to you, it is impossible to determine their Arcana at this point."

That didn't sound good to her. She stared in shock at Bartholomew's handsome face and outfit. "You're saying that _all of them_... all of them are hiding something important from me? Even... even Noel-kun?"

"Not only from you", the assistant amended. "Similar to your mother's curse, which could at least be partly weakened by her daughter's love, it is something unique to each individual which they hide from the world, and from themselves as well. Such self-deception is the basis for all Shadows. In time, those clouded hearts may yet clear, and you will come to understand them fully."

Sensing her doubt, he reach over to the tarot deck himself, to pull out one more card and place it beside the Judgement Arcana card before frowning. "Hm... not the one that I expected after last time. The Magician Arcana."

"Even beings such as we sometimes have difficulty fully knowing ourselves", Igor chuckled at the result, hand tapping on his table. "Or in this case, knowing what we shall be in the dream voyager's perception of us. The Magician is an experienced guide, one who seeks to maximise a person's potential by teaching them the necessary skills. You know of that which I speak."

Bartholomew smiled back as well, pulling the tarot card closer so that Aiko could see the picture of a robed figure bearing a staff, and conjuring some of kind of blood red aura. "I suppose that's it then. I shall be honoured to be your Magician confidant, dream voyager."

That earnestness coupled with a face only held back from being perfect by the eye patch irresistibly charmed her, and she nodded back. "So can you... I mean, I know you're busy right now getting that ritual thingy ready, but once you're done that... can you visit our world, Bart-kun?"

His satisfied smile grew warmer. "Only as a part of my duty of aiding in your mission, nothing more. However, my spending time with you in the real world would strengthen the Magician link, which will help you in your mission, so... yes. If you should come here and request my presence, I would be allowed to visit you for the following day."

"I will", she promised him quickly. "Once I save Mira-senpai, I will. You can come visit Koashimizu, and we can visit the city together! It'll be fun!"

"It will be my pleasure", Bartholomew bowed to her.

"I suppose he has earned that privilege at least", Igor acknowledged more reluctantly, one hand covering his sloped chin in thought. "His behaviour during his rehabilitation has been exemplary most of the time. But first, there is some urgent business for us to address. Though gradual, the world's regression has already begun, and to halt it you must first gather up your allies."

"I understand", Aiko promised him. "The more allies, the better my chance at saving Mira-senpai. I _won't_ fail, Mr. Igor."

That cartoonish smirk came back beneath his long nose, revealing less than nothing as to what he thought their odds of success were. "I will be watching from here. Show to us the strength of your resolve."

* * *

o


	10. The Dancer

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Settle down, it'll all be clear_

 _Don't pay no mind to the demons_

 _They fill you with fear_

 _The trouble, it might drag you down_

 _If you get lost, you can always be found_

 _Just know you're not alone_

 _'Cause I'm gonna make this place your Home_

* * *

4/19 Friday

After School

On any other day, Aiko would have been worried at how little she remembered about classes that day. There was nothing the teachers said that stood out to her, nothing that would stick in her mind for longer than the instant needed to acknowledge it. Kotone and Mr. Takao both had concerned expressions, but not enough to question her further.

There was only one path, one goal that mattered to her today.

"Over there", Pelagio instructed her once class was over. "That's the spot."

The spot was a yawning gap in the rock a short distance from the Yume Bay that she was honestly surprised not to have seen earlier. _Or maybe I just wasn't looking. I didn't see the value in it until now._

Though the gap was actually three vertical feet up, there was also a pile of dry rocks which served as a rough stairway leading up to it. Inside, the cave stretched out into darkness, a mild coat of sand covering its floor and small stalactites upon the roof.

"You're _sure_ that no one knows about this place?", Aiko asked him carefully, peering into the damp black. "We're not borrowing someone's private getaway?"

"Hmph. I have watched it for several days after discovering it", Pelagio promised with absolute confidence. "I have also explored it fully to locate any hazards. There is nothing of note in there, save for a pond at the bottom full of shellfish, and no one has visited it for days. Perhaps some students might wish to explore it out of curiosity, but that would be a rare occurrence. It is not so large as it seems."

"Hope it's not today", Aiko muttered as she ascended the steps into the cavern and began to remove her student uniform. "They might get the wrong idea."

While she had taken the early precaution of putting on a forest green swimsuit beneath it before heading out, Pelagio made sure to remain far outside of the cave until she was done stashing her uniform in a dry corner. _I wonder... was he tempted? He's a bird, but he talks like someone older than a student._ Regardless, the swimsuit wasn't the highly revealing type like the models wore, and it would hold up much better in the surf than normal clothes.

She tried to ignore just how eerily calm the waters had become as she waded into them. Once they were through the gate, the swimsuit became the familiar greatcoat and hat and she felt much better. _Wait..._

She looked down. The greatcoat was there, but it was... changed. It still looked worn and threadbare, but some of the colour missing from it had returned, albeit washed-out looking. Some of the previously frayed buttons were properly sewn back on, and her gloves felt less patchy as well. "Nice."

"Pardon, my lady?"

"Oh, nothing." As she spoke, a geyser of water far to their left announced the arrival of another masked Leviathan Shadow, but this one didn't look any faster than the last one. If anything, it was slower.

"Avoid it", she commanded of her friend-turned-vessel. "We don't have time to waste on that today."

"As you wish", Pelagio acknowledged, changing course as she adjusted the wide sails. "Though if our theory is correct, then our deadline is not until the 21st of this month. That is when this 'cleanse' is said to begin, yes?"

"True", she admitted. "Technically we _do_ have two more days to spare before it's too late. But this is Mira's _life_ we're talking about. I'm not leaving anything to chance. I'd have come even sooner, if it weren't for those detentions... No. We win here, or die trying."

 _Maybe I really am crazy. Driving a living ship past a giant masked beast in a sea without a sky, wearing an 18th century coat and sword while preparing to fight-_

No. _No more doubting. This is real. This is all real._

 _This is the most 'real' thing I have ever seen._

There was only one path.

* * *

 _"We love you, princess Mira!"_

"She looked... tired", Pelagio commented as they hurried down the walkway towards the spire. "If I may say so, that was not nearly so inspired as her previous dance routine."

"She did", Aiko had to agree. Fortunately for them, the Shadows seemed to share in their master's lethargy. Only a few had tried attacking them, and it was nothing they hadn't seen and defeated before with their Personas. "Just have to hope she's not too tired to see us."

The rank and file might have been slacking, but the main guard on the spire was strong as ever. Four of the large box-shaped Shadows sat arrayed in formation around the front door, their words just as dead and mechanical as before.

"Halt, citizen. Princess Mira does not wish to be disturbed at this time."

"Are you sure about that?", Aiko asked before getting back on task. "I'm Aiko Tsuruga, and this is Pelagio. We're her friends."

"Processing. Searching database for friend listing Aiko Tsuruga and Pelagio." The eye flickered and flickered before stopping. "Listing found. Proceed, friends of princess Mira."

To their relief, the main door led into a large circular lift that bypassed all the floors of the spire they had previously forged through. Even if no Shadows attacked them now that they had been 'cleared', a walk up that many floors would have been exhausting by itself. They found Mira in the same place as before, among the metal village of young cognitions, this time actively working on some kind of unrecognisably advanced handhold contraption festooned with lights out in the main circle.

"The designator circuit is reversed", Mira murmured without seeing her new arrivals, though several of the kids looked interested in what she was doing. "Rear plasma connections are severed. This thing shouldn't even work at all, and yet... Oh! Tsuruga-chan! Perfect timing! I was wondering if you'd come back. I know you were disappointed before."

"I got held up", Aiko confessed with a sly grin. Despite their situation, it was good to see her roommate again. "Things have been... _interesting_ at school. How about here?"

The momentary hesitation showing in Mira's face was all the proof Aiko needed. "It's good. I'm really getting better at making new machines. In fact, there was someone in the city today who actually proposed to me! I think he's serious!"

"Really?" Aiko stared past the violet protective fields into the array of lights and high technology spread beneath them. "I'd think any of the guys your age who live there would want to do that."

"Maybe", Mira acknowledged. "But he's the first one who worked up the courage to ask. He said we could do it after the cleanse was over."

She winced. _Funny that you would speak of working up courage now._ Surely she had more courage than a mere cognition. Pelagio was beside her, supporting her the whole way as she marshalled her strength of mind. "About the cleanse... no, I won't try to convince you that it's bad. But it's your deadline, senpai. If you aren't out of here two days from now, you can't leave. You'll be stuck here forever."

As expected, Mira didn't take this well. Her lips hardened and she gave Aiko an unwelcome look. "Stuck in heaven forever. So you're still trying this? I thought I'd made my point clear last time, and we could just enjoy each other's company. I know I enjoy yours. I told you, Tsuruga-san. I'm not going back."

"Then", Aiko declared, taking a deep breath as she reached down not for her cutlass, but for Mira's phone. "Consider this to be an intervention."

Mira didn't resist when she saw her phone being switched on. Without other context, it might have just been a friend showing her a funny video with it. Pelagio swept the steel village as Aiko booted the device up, content to leave her to the task at hand while he made sure that no Shadows interfered.

"I spoke with your father, Mr. Sorano", Aiko told her friend, scrolling down the list to a certain message originating from a number that was now familiar to both of them. "He had this to say, and some others joined in."

Moving her eyes back to Mira's, she hit the button to play the message.

Nothing happened. It took her a few seconds to process that there was no sound coming from the phone's speaker. No trace of Mr. Sorano's voice, even more thickly-accented than his daughter's. Looking at the phone, she hit the play button a second time. Again, there was nothing.

"What... why isn't it playing?"

A third tap. A fourth. Refreshing and hitting the button again did nothing. After another minute of fiddling with the phone to make it work, intense frustration took hold of her and she dropped the device to the ground, no longer caring if it was damaged as a result.

 _Why... why? It was working fine yesterday! No no no NO! This was supposed to deliver his message!_

Mira looked distressed at her friend's anger, picking up her phone and staring into the screen. Hitting a few more buttons, she didn't seem surprised when nothing happened as she tried to play older messages or bring up the camera function.

"I think maybe our phones don't work properly in this dimension. Did you bring yours, Tsuruga-chan?"

"No", Aiko managed breathlessly, still hoarse from the mixture of rage and despair filling her. This was it. Her ultimate plan to convince Mira to abandon her Land once and for all... and it was completely _useless._

She rose out of that helpless daze to find her hand touching the handle of her sword, about to cut loose and take out her frustrations on the dimension which had caused them, no matter how ineffective such an action would be, and likely to call Shadows down on them all the quicker.

"Mira-meisie."

Startled, they both turned to see Mr. Sorano standing before them in the square, or rather the cognition bearing his name and likeness. The joviality he had born last time was gone, or nearly so, and Mira looked similarly despondent seeing him in such a way. "Papa?"

"Mira-meisie, I know what has brought you here", the copy of Mr. Sorano told her in a tone heavy enough to support the central spire. "You have always been the brightest of our family, but you jump to conclusions. You believed that because I became angry with you, and sent you back to Koashimizu, I disliked you, or that I believed that your grades were more important than you... you are wrong."

Aiko could hardly believe what she was hearing from this simulacrum. Because she'd heard it before. This was, with a few minor changes, the exact message which Mr. Sorano had recorded for her.

Mira seemed to be having difficulty believing it as well. "P-papa?"

"You are the brightest, Mira-meisie. Brighter than me. All I wished was to nurture that, so that you could leave home one day and find a place in the modern world. I know how much you enjoy our home. It will always be there for you. _We_ will always be there for you. At the same time, there are so many things that have developed outside of our home that I wished we might be able to enjoy more. The medicine of the outside world is better. There are systems there that I don't understand that allow you to view art and culture from anywhere in the world. You could be a star in any of those fields, Mira-meisie."

If his words were having the desired effect, Aiko couldn't tell. They had certainly reduced Mira to sullen tears, but it remained to be seen if that was good or bad. "Stop it! Papa, please stop!"

The false Mr. Sorano did not stop. "I only wanted what I believed was best for you. You are better than anything our home might be able to provide you. I believed that then, and I believe it now. I will always support you, and I am so sorry for becoming angry before. At home, we all... we all... we-we-we-we-w-w-w-w-www..."

As the man's voice began to loop unnaturally back on itself, so too did his body. It spasmed, wildly at first then more and more minutely, like an animatron running out of energy.

Then, a heartbeat after his eyes drew closed, Aiko realized that was exactly what it was.

"You knew?"

Unable to raise her head, Mira sniffed. "...Out of power. How did he say all that?"

She couldn't think of an answer to that question. Several other citizens of the village did not provide an answer either. What they did do was flank Mira, forming a circle of seven children and one woman. All of them had seemingly discarded their former playful facade and were looking just as solemn as the false Mr. Sorano had, the expression seeming somehow unnatural on their young, innocent faces.

 _As though this wasn't unnatural enough,_ Aiko thought warily. This version of Mr. Sorano was actually another machine, which meant the same was probably true for the others here.

They betrayed none of that secret. Though they took turns speaking to Mira in a language which Aiko did not understand, hearing a beautiful song in another language remained a pleasant sound, and so it was here. The emotion in their words seemed like it should be impossible for any machine to duplicate. Mira _did_ understand the words, and Aiko would have bet anything that they were something close to the message she had recorded earlier.

The message which was not merely from her father, but from her entire family.

It took longer than she had remembered, each of the kids ranging from preschoolers to Mira's own age taking a turn, leaving the final words to the large bellied, soft-eyed woman who Aiko presumed was Mira's mother. Her words seemed the saddest, the most delicately delivered.

This turned out to be too much for the Land's ruler. She sank to her knees with her mother's final gentle syllables, hands knuckled over her eyes. No... they were clutching her head.

"Ek.. ek is... _ek is_... _moeder._ "

Aiko would have waited weeks for her, but in truth it must have only taken a few minutes before Mira rose.

"It's me", she whispered brokenly to the neon sky. "It's my fault. This whole place sprung from _my_ mind. From _my_ foolishness. From _my_ bitterness. I could have fought. I chose to run away. The voice called to me."

When Aiko could find no words, she was surprised to feel Pelagio walking up to them. "It gave you what your subconscious mind desired. Do you still desire it, Mirambela Sorano?"

A ripping noise, high and clear in the near silence of the village surrounded by child androids, drew her attention back to Mira, who had torn the skirt of her dress loose before standing. The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable, but so was the change that had come over her.

"No", she declared. "I don't. It's time. Let's get out of here."

* * *

The box Shadows parted like a river as Mirambela walked out of the spire with her friends, and the flying robots changed their courses to avoid her. The cognitions looked troubled by the sight of their ruler outside the sterile safety of her citadel, but were reassured by the mere sight of the one whom they claimed to adore, gossiping madly instead.

In fact, there was no hint of opposition until they were less than one hundred feet away from the end of the final walkway. Then, several of the floating platforms began to slam themselves together with that walkway until the resulting platform was wide enough to run two trucks along head to head, and a familiar cry came down to them.

"Where are you going, princess Mira?"

The three of them peered up at the same time to see Mira's Shadow descending from a higher walkway. She jumped down from there to land on the platform, heavy metal legs making a cacophonously loud crash. Her voice was still the same blend of Mira and malicious robot that Aiko remembered, if a bit more stressed than before for obvious reasons.

"It's dangerous for you to be outside the spire", the tall machine said with only small hints of courtesy. "I realize that these people are your friends, but the rest of the filth would take any opportunity to harm you, especially two days before the cleanse."

Seeing Aiko at a loss for what to say, Mirambela stepped forward, a cold anger in her tone that neither of them had ever seen from her before. "And why would they want to harm me? Because I ordered the cleanse? Funny... I don't remember ever doing that."

"You were very busy", her cyborg copy offered, the red lens casting across the other two absently. "Besides, stupid filth needs no reason to lash out and harm those who are smarter than them, and you are the smartest of us all."

Sensing rather than seeing the way that several lesser Shadows were now gathering around them, Mira took a step back.. and chuckled cynically. "That's why every machine I create works perfectly, yes? Because I'm the smartest. Because this is _my_ world, the world of my dreams. So even if I have no clue what I'm actually doing, what I build will always work. I can't believe I only noticed that now, when I deliberately tried to build a failed device."

"So gifted", the Shadow remarked in admiration, though it hardly sounded like a compliment. "You couldn't even fail if you tried. That's our dear princess. But genius can't protect you from animals. That is why you created us. To protect you from their filth."

Mira shook her head, sorrow masking a potent anger that Aiko sensed in her every syllable. "I can do without your kind of protection, _sentry_. I'll be going now."

She was four steps further toward freedom when a vicious scowl appeared on the stolen copy of her face across from them, and the red lens glowed. Behind the Shadow, a violet field appeared to block the path.

"These so-called friends have corrupted your mind", the Shadow snarled, pointing her laser arm at Pelagio. "This is _your world_ , princess. You can't seriously want to go back to that awful place, where you were tormented and shunned every day. Don't you remember Kujou? Remember Mattora? Remember how they all looked down on you, and said you were stupid? Remember what Papa said?"

Mira didn't falter from the words, only from the laser arm. "I do. But there are other people there... people who make it all worthwhile. And maybe, just maybe, it won't be so bad, if I actually stand up for myself."

That was the final straw, and even Mira knew to get behind Aiko and Pelagio as her Shadow let out a most un-robotic roar of disapproval. Around them, hundreds of of thick shiny cables began to snake their way onto the platform from above, each one crackling with electricity.

"-It's wrong", the massive sentry bearing her face protested, for once sounding more like a distressed Mirambela than a heartless machine trained to speak. "It's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, _it's WRONG!_ I will not return! I will never return! Here I am loved! Here, all the bad people are punished! Here, everything is perfect! I won't leave! NEVER! _You will not take me away from the world of my dreams!_ "

The cables made their purpose evident then as the two Persona-users drew their weapons and called upon their powers, each one forcibly jacking into dozens of circular ports on the Shadow's metal body. Once enough of them had attached, they formed a house-sized cone of mad wiring that lifted up as one... only to come away with the upper half of her body, leaving her huge legs lying uselessly on the ground.

Then, as they all stared up at her, at the impossible bulging mass of sci-fi wiring that had taken her, the Shadow reached up with her bulky left hand, and the metal hand clamped down and began to gruesomely tear at the skin of her face, until...

A sharp cry of cringing pain rang out across the city as the face came loose.

"Gods... just what are facing here?", Pelagio remarked in horror as the dead mask of brown flesh that had once been Mira's face dropped down to lie among the discarded robot legs as if it were a mere latex disguise. As a precaution, he reached up and touched his helmet to call his Persona.

"A pretender", Aiko provided for him, sounding only slightly less alarmed. "Something that masqueraded as Mira-senpai's loyal servant. Beneath her mask, there's nothing. Nothing but unfeeling metal."

"No", Mira disagreed, sounding the most frightened of them all. "That is still... me. That's the _me_ that hated all the others for the way they treated me. The _me_ that created the idea of 'filth'. Oh God..."

Despite her words, the only resemblance that the Shadow bore to its 'master' now was a vaguely feminine-shaped face. It bore no lingering shreds of Mirambela's flesh now, only stark metal and rivets, a set of sharp black lips frozen up like the masks seen on other Shadows. Its single eye was now more of a socket-shaped light bulb, glowing an angry gold as it surveyed and scanned its targets.

"Stupid filth that threaten my perfect world must be exterminated!", the Shadow screeched, its voice rapidly wavering between Mirambela and Microsoft Mary. Already, the space-age laser cannon on her right hand was charging, releasing a blast like the disc robots cranked up by a factor of ten.

Those had been the very first Shadows that Aiko had defeated. And, like as then, the only way out was to fight back with every part of her own consciousness. The cutlass was up in the space of a breath, blocking the shot and falling back only a few paces. Her other hand rose up to her hat, calling upon Anne Bonny. "I don't _think_ so... Shadow-san."

That was the signal for for Pelagio and Galahad to strike, lunging forward to tear into her armour with his blade, though the slash left little in the way of damage behind and Aiko's blade did no better. Swaying back on the cables holding her from repeated blade impacts, the Shadow lifted up and pointed its laser arm once more. This time, what came out was not a laser, but a crackling current of electricity that floored Pelagio with a pained groan.

Dodging the arm as it swung around for her, Aiko caught an involuntary glimpse of all the lesser Shadows around her, none of them attacking, just standing there, watching the confrontation.

How many of them were secretly hoping that she and Pelagio would be the ones to finally bring down this metal monstrosity who had stolen their identities? How many had already lost themselves completely, becoming the mask?

"We need some more bite in our blades!", she muttered, switching to her most strength-focused Persona. "Crush them, Onkot! _Tarukaja_!"

That seemed to help Pelagio's sword cut deeper, but then the Shadow turned the surging electricity on her instead. Parrying it with a metal cutlass was an obvious mistake, and so Aiko merely gritted her teeth as she soaked up the pain. Being electrocuted was exactly as painful as she'd heard, though thankfully it wasn't enough voltage to make her black out entirely.

"My lady!", Pelagio called, seeing the attack. "Are you alright? I should use-"

"NO!", she cut him off, trying not to sound too on edge. "Not yet, keep attacking! That bronze giant's fire was worse, she's got to have more than this!"

"Correct for once!", the Shadow cried as the tethering cables hauled her further up, out of the reach of their swords even as Aiko finished placing Tarukaja on herself as well. Energy gathered in the laser arm now, charging up until the entire apparatus was glowing. "This will delete you for good! DELETE!"

Pelagio saw it coming, and raised his hand to use his protective spell from before, Praesi. When the stream of blinding power was finally released however, the transparent shield around her only held for an instant before shattering and allowing the rest of the current through to shock her further.

Biting back words her mother would have snapped out of her fuge and scolded her for, Aiko forced herself to remain standing until her healing was done. "You wanna fight long-distance then? _Bufu_!"

It was not water, but a wreath of ice which covered the enemy this time. Aiko had hoped the chill would penetrate deep into the circuitry, or whatever it really was that kept this mechanical monster going, but it merely cracked some of her armour. Getting the message, Pelagio raised his own sword to strike with the explosive power of Frei, which seemed to be only marginally more effective.

The Shadow reeled back under the combined magical assault, her armour ruptured but still holding, being worn down by repeated strikes. The red machine lens shifted over to Mira for just a moment before resuming her own offensive. "I cannot fall... I cannot! For the sake of my world, for my heaven..."

There was more crackling, but it came from above the Shadow as the hundreds of gathered power cables lit up in neon. As the three of them watched, the ruptures they had created in the Shadow's sleek metal plating began to close themselves back up, leaving the metal plates gleaming and factory new. "Hah! No filth can threaten me! _Mazio_!"

The vicious lightning struck them both now, Aiko noticing detatchedly that it seemed to affect Pelagio far worse and healing appropriately. _Damn... Not good. If she can just keep healing with all those cables, there's no way we'll last..._ "Pelagio!"

Too busy and pained to correct her not addressing him as 'sir' for once in his life, her guardian grimaced, falling back before a stream of laser blasts. "My lady?"

"Get behind her and cut the cables! Stop that recharge!"

The large eyes on his helmet widened. "But... but you cannot face that Shadow alone!"

"Neither of us can face her if she keeps healing! _Do it now!_ " Praying that none of the other Shadows would interfere with him, she turned back to face their main enemy, grimly acknowledging a final casting of Praesi from her guardian before she was left to face the enemy alone.

The shield wouldn't last long, she knew. It might only prevent the first attack, and particularly heavy attacks like the buster that Mira's Shadow was charging once more would pierce right through it. _But... maybe there's a way to stop it from hurting me anyway. I just hope I figured this out right. Come on..._

Leering, the Shadow pointed her arm and unleashed the torrent of raw power against her once more. " _DELETE!_ "

"Take flight, Gu Huo Niao!"

The shield shattered even faster this time, allowing the storm of voltage to pour through and cover her in its fury, scalding nerves with the agonising pain of electrocution...

And Aiko stood up, completely unharmed, smiling in a way that she didn't often smile.

Behind her floated a gorgeous turquoise-skinned female demon with large blue-feathered wings and raven hair braided into sweeping fanned horns. The Persona smiled along with her, albeit far more cruelly than most humans were capable of.

The single bulb eye of Shadow Mira flashed in clear alarm.

"What?! Impossible!"

Securing her hat, Aiko shook her head. "No, Shadow-san. It's just something you never checked. I did. I noticed it when I was using this new Persona against your other Shadows- Gu Huo Niao is immune to electricity. You'd better stick to your laser attack now, because your lightning won't do much to me."

Mira's Shadow seemed to shake for a moment before pointing the laser arm again. No beam emerged, but the more powerful crackling electricity poured forth to shock her into death. "Impossible! _Mazio!_ "

Aiko hadn't been telling the entire truth- the bolts still tingled, burning into her captain's coat, but not eliciting the howls of agony from her that it had before. It was more than enough.

Seeing the Shadow pull back out of melee range, she pointed her blade. "...Told you. Want to see what else it can do? _Agi_!"

Just as it had when the bronze giant called upon it, the enchanted flame billowed out to engulf her target, leaving scorch marks on the metal. She wouldn't call the damage significant, but coupled with recent developments, it clearly infuriated the Shadow even further. Another laser flew out, only to be handily intercepted by her cutlass.

Like those serving under her, the Shadow had now dropped all pretence of being anything close to an emotionless robot, even yielding occasional grunts of pain. She was far from done, however. The connecting cables surged once more to heal the enemy's burns, and then Aiko realized that while they had been distracted by the fight, a round hatch in the walkway had opened to remove the two metal legs and the flesh mask.

They had been swapped out for a domed, treaded base that almost looked like another metal-shelled Shadow at first. It showed no signs of life until Mira's Shadow was lowered on her cables down into the open dome section, the mechanisms of her lower torso connecting and _fusing_ with something in there.

Wasting no time, the base suddenly revved up like a car, and Aiko had to throw herself to one side to avoid being squashed beneath treads. The Shadow cackled madly seeing this, turning and readying for another blind rush, screaming as she did.

" _You dare to violate my heaven! You, the one who can just ignore the torments of Hell... How? How do you do it? I hate you! I HATE YOU! DELETE! DELEEEEETE!_ "

Aiko answered with a dose of Agi, but the berserk Shadow charged through the flames, rapid-firing the laser cannon now. That could be parried, but she quickly realised that she couldn't do that and still dodge the charge. Taking the less painful option was still painful, and the Shadow cried her imminent victory as multiple laser blasts scored her coat.

Then there was a barrage of slicing sounds from somewhere above, and the treads ground to a halt inches from Aiko's face. She stood, seeing all the cables connected to Mira's Shadow falling limply away like confetti. The effect was instantaneous- enemy's the upper torso wilted over, nearly lifeless save for her static-washed cries of anguish, unable to fire the laser arm any more.

One last cable, the one connected to an aperture on the back of the Shadow's neck, parted before Pelagio returned to the ground. "My sincerest apologies for the delay, my... Aiko."

"You've forgiven", she smirked in victory, raising a 'bro fist' that the Guardian stared at in confusion instead of reciprocating. "You did it way faster than I could have."

"How do you do it?", the Shadow interrupted their celebration in a quavering, broken tone, all her earlier rage banished. "How do you get through it? Every day, the torment. Every day, the horrible insults. Every day, they hate me... how?"

"That's simple."

The answer hadn't come from Aiko or Pelagio. Mirambela walked up to them, her face newly resolute. "Because she's _strong_. Stronger than I was at her age. She doesn't run those horrible words over and over in her head, or let them intrude on her dreams. She resists. She knows how meaningless they are. _Verduur._ "

Her Shadow didn't look up. It sounded like it was crying now as it spoke to her equal and opposite, the other half of her mind. " _Geen... ek kan nie... I can't do that. I'm too weak... I'm too pathetic. I need my sanctuary! I_ **need** _my heaven!_ "

Pelagio drew his blade with a scowl, but Aiko held him back. "She's got it", she told him as Mira walked past them. "She knows just what to say to herself."

"Last year", Mira said slowly, approaching the shivering wreck without any fear. "Last year was a horrible time for me. I had no one. It just kept on piling up, and I knew that my father wouldn't understand. He believed that being smart meant that I would be popular, that I was smart enough to ignore the people like Kujou and Mattora who chose to harass me. Then, the final grades, and his anger, after we all saved up so much money to send me... and then I had to face it all over again. Another year of the same hell. I resigned myself to it, believing there was no other way. Too much."

She reached the base then, reaching one tender hand up to touch the tarnished steel cheek of the fallen Shadow's face. Dark oil tears flowed down to meet it, reflecting the flesh face beholding it.

"But I don't have to live like that any more. My father didn't make me study abroad because he didn't like me. He did it because he believed that I was the most gifted of his children. _He had faith in me, even when I had none in myself. So did Tsuruga-san. So did everyone back home. They're all counting on me to become something special. Not because they want anything back from me... but because they love me. Because they want me to be happy."_

The enormous Shadow began to dissipate then, both the armoured tank base and the upper torso becoming countless shining stars of bright violet and red. Scattering about in a round cloud, they did not dissipate, merely gathering around Mira, who didn't seem to notice.

"I will create my own happiness, with the help of the people who believe in me", she vowed, eyes closed now. "No matter who tries to stop it, I will not give in to them. I will dodge around their awful weapons, continuing in my joyful dance... for I am the Dancer."

The monstrous, dual crash of lightning gathered once more, this time resolving into the shape of a large, athletic woman with smiling bright purple lips and a red and yellow headdress. An exotic outfit of fiery crimson silk cloak and countless beads covered her but did nothing to obscure the inhuman grace of her movements, punctuated by the occasional small crackle of electricity running down her skin into her fingers.

"A Persona?", Pelagio called in surprise.

"What?", Aiko commented, her own happiness blunting sarcasm. "You didn't think she could do it? If I could, so could my Senpai... she just needed a little help from us."

" _Eeparrei. I am Thou"_ , the large Persona greeted her, speaking gently into all of their minds, not only Mira's. " _Thou art I. Thou hast overcome thine despair, and unlocked the true strength of thine other self_."

"Yes", wide-eyed Mira nodded, understanding without needing words. "I know. _Ek is jy._ You are me. I forgot. You're... Oya. And, you are... me."

" _Through lightning and storms, through death and rebirth, heedless we dance forever on_ ", the rising Persona spoke in an uplifting tone that Aiko knew originated from within the depths of Mira's own soul. " _Those who seek our destruction shall only follow along behind us, and thus, become caught up in our dance, and part of it. Until there is only the dance, and the dancers. Now, we have sealed our contract. Break your chains of despair. Unleash my power, and pillage this dismal dawn of illusions!_ "

The voice was gone. Time resumed unhindered. The spirit had vanished, the invisible chains cast aside in useless fragments of thought.

Mira nearly collapsed then, but even as Aiko rushed in to support her she put out her other knee to stop her motion. "Senpai? Are you...?"

Turning, Mira smiled like she never had in all the time they had known each other. "I am, Tsuruga-san. Now, more than ever before." Far from collapsing, she wrapped both arms around her smaller body as if she might never let go. "Thank you. Thank you _so much_ , for everything. I would never have woken up if you hadn't come here. You did more than I- than _anyone_ \- had any right to ask of you."

Embracing her back and trying not to cough from the press of the other girl's strength, Aiko nodded back, shedding tears of joy. _I did it. I did it. It actually worked out._ "Hey... you're my Senpai, and my roommate. You think I would just let you go? Let this weird place steal you away? Never. We watch out for each other, right? That was what I promised you when we met."

They broke apart then, and Mira nodded more soberly. "I know. 'Let's think positive', right? I think... I feel as close to you now as I do all my brothers and sisters back home. If ever you wish to visit us, it will be as family."

"I'd love that", Aiko was beaming until a loud crashing noise brought her back to reality. "Speaking of a change in location, we should probably go now."

It was easy to see what she meant. The noise had been caused by one of the steel trees suddenly losing power and toppling over, crashing into several walkways. As they watched, more and more of the towers began to follow suit. Cognitions everywhere began to scream in terror and run before disappearing into dust, and the Shadows had all scattered to the winds.

Mira could only nod in agreement. "Definitely time to go. Let's get out of this place."

* * *

Enemy Profile #2

Shadow Mirambela

Resist - Wind, Lightning (Drain)

Weakness - None

Abilities - Zio, Mazio, Deletion Buster, Recharge, Ramming

* * *

o


	11. Back to Reality

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/19 Friday

Evening

The worst of the Land's destruction didn't start until they were well clear. While Mira was naturally startled to see Pelagio transform into a ship that would carry them away from her Land, more troubling to her was seeing the way the gleaming towers behind them were collapsing. They were too far away to hear much of the noise, but it was all too easy to imagine.

"What was that?", Mira asked once they were clear.

"It's because the Land's ruler- you- have discarded it, miss Sorano", Pelagio explained flatly, no doubt just as perturbed as they were but hiding it better by virtue of being a silver ship without an actual face. "That Land was created in response to your own dreams and desires, to fulfil them all. Because you have rejected it, it loses a huge amount of its power, and all the Shadows who secretly resented the role they were forced into will be freed from your control."

"All in all, a job well done", Aiko placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know it looks bad... but the cognitions there aren't real people. That place could only exist in that form while you were holding onto your spite."

Digesting the terms and matching them with everything she had already intuited, Mira nodded. "Just a great big shiny pit of self-gratification. They always said they loved me because I wanted so badly to be loved... but it was just empty words. And meanwhile, my deranged needs enslaved Shadows who didn't want to be there at all. That horrible machine... that was _my_ Shadow, right?"

"Correct", Pelagio said as they changed course for the gate. "Though I doubt that the Land will be completely lost with her demise and your departure."

"As strange as it may sound, I'm not sorry to hear that", Aiko noted, glancing back at the gleaming futuristic spires and lights. "It's actually a nice place to visit once in a while. Too bad it's so dangerous. Like a resort island surrounded by sharks."

Mira made a face. "I don't think I ever want to go back there ever again. It reminds me of everything that I was thinking... everything that _she_ was saying, even..." Further downcast, she turned to Aiko. "I guess what I wanted, deep down, was to make Kujou and Mattora and all of them feel the same pain I felt. And... I was jealous of the way you didn't let them get to you, even though you're only a first-year."

"The Shadow lacks the mask which humans don to hide their true feelings", Pelagio provided neutrally. "However, acknowledging those feelings is the first step to coming to terms with them."

Still, Aiko felt he sounded a bit too smug there. "Oh? And you think because you're not human, you don't have any hidden feelings of your own, Pela-tori?"

Mira blinked. "Wait, so he's not human? Well, I guess he did just turn into this ship... What is he, then?"

The huff emanating from the deck and railings around them sounded offended, but only slightly. " _I_ am Sir Pelagio, young lady. And _my_ feelings are fully honest. How else would I be able to summon a Persona? I can assure you that I never once had to deal with such a horrendous creature as my own Shadow."

"Maybe", Aiko teased, inwardly wondering what such a Shadow would appear as. "But you didn't have Galahad when we met, riiiight? What were you hiding from yourself before then, Pela-tori?"

Was it actually possible for a boat to blush? "Erm... I... that is to say, I..."

An explosion of water drew everyone's attention then, precluding the emergence of a Leviathan Shadow. "Saved by the bell", Aiko murmured before dashing down the stairs to the lower deck, nearly tripping as she did. "This would be one of the sharks I was talking about, Senpai."

Peering out the cannon hatch beside her, Mira boggled. " _That's_ a Shadow?! It's huge!"

She wasn't wrong. Aiko saw that the masked creature was the same type they'd seen on the journey to Mira's Land today- comparatively smaller and slower, shaped like a massive trout with a mask of pure white teeth that repeatedly leaped out of the water. It might have even been the same one from before, waiting for them to return.

It didn't matter. At the apex of one such leap, Aiko touched the cannon as Pelagio had shown her, calling upon Gu Huo Niao's magic and unleashing a blast of fire out into the sea that, while puny compared to the fire the Reaper's vessel had produced, still burned into the Shadow's dour scales and elicited a beastly wail in response.

"An excellent shot", their ship's voice commented her. "Try aiming for the back fins to cripple its movements."

Obligingly, the ship veered around to line up her sight. She waited until the massive but sluggish fish was turning back to chase them, then put two more blazing shots into its rear. Though suitably slowed, it then sprang up into a leap over the final distance.

Eyes tracking it past her opening into a wall, she cursed. "The other side! Bring us around! Before it-"

What might have been the start of a maneuver turned into a shudder running through the entire vessel as the Shadow rammed the unprotected side.

Its teeth were nearly upon Pelagio's rear deck when a blast of lightning struck it square in the mouth, leaving it to sink lifelessly back into the dark waves.

Tracking that blast back to its source, Aiko found herself staring at Mira stationed at an identical cannon positioned next to the same kind of open hatch along the starboard side. In the rush to reach her own cannon and start firing, she'd completely missed its twin.

Mira stood up from her own cannon without a hint of boast in her poise. She was staring at her hands. "So this... is the power of Persona? Like you two were using?"

There was no visible sign of the electricity left in those hands, but when Aiko took Mira's wrists into her hands, she swore she could feel the lingering power. "It is. Oya, right? Looks like you really gave that one a shock."

Mira smiled back despite how lame the joke was. "Oya is the _Orisha_ , or spirit, of winds and lightning, and death and rebirth. I just felt her power building up inside me and I... let it go. Come to think of it, I've never been afraid of lightning and storms like others my age."

Aiko chuckled, glad to have her friend back and better than ever. "Well that puts you one up on me. I would just hide under the covers and wait for it to go away. I might like the water, but lightning just makes things too dangerous, y'know?"

"How fortunate then, that Faraway Lands never has lightning", Pelagio's voice rang down to them. "The occasional hurricane or thundercloud perhaps, which we would do well to avoid."

"I think we're more fortunate to have Mira-senpai with us now", Aiko beamed. "Two cannons are better than one. So... why didn't I see the other one before?"

For once, Pelagio had no ready answer, uncertainly clouding his usual chipper voice. "I... cannot say, my lady. In all of my travels across this sea as a ship, I have only possessed the one cannon, and I was unable to use it to defend myself until finding you, since I had no one else on board to operate it. This... I cannot explain."

Aiko shrugged. "We shouldn't spit on a gift, I guess."

"No... I suppose not. We are nearly arrived at the gate, my lady. Please brace yourself."

Mira was looking back at her now, faintly amused by the guardian's formality now that they weren't in danger. "'My lady', huh? So, what is he, really?"

Bright light engulfed them then, of a type Aiko knew they would never see in Faraway Lands. It was the light of their own world, reaching out to welcome them home as Pelagio passed through the gate back to Yume Bay.

"Senpai, I think you're about to find out..."

* * *

4/19 Friday

The storm had gone silent outside, the noise no longer crashing against the windows or blinding them with flashes of white. In its place was a soulful hymn sung by an unseen woman, which sounded both melancholy and hopeful at the same time her ears.

Igor looked merrier than usual to Aiko as she stepped once more into the unknowable room where he seemed to always reside. Of course, this only made him look more unnerving when coupled with his strange voice, but she didn't let her reaction to that show.

Bartholomew was similar, stepping aside and pulling out a chair for her. "Well done, dream voyager. That girl's soul has rejected the false world and willingly returned to the real one, and even should she return to Faraway Lands, there is no further danger of her becoming trapped."

Aiko knew she own happiness was shining through, and she let it. _Whatever, I've earned it._ "That's good news. I just hope the police don't treat her too bad and let her go back to school soon."

"You have done more than merely save one innocent life from the final oblivion", Igor provided. "You have gained a new comrade. One who will gladly serve at your side in both your world and while sailing the sea of human consciousness. The Dancer... and her Persona of the Priestess Arcana."

Aiko nodded when she saw the new card that had been added to the table along with the rest, depicting a slender, blue robed and hooded woman seated upon an elegant chair with a red rose upon her head cover. Somehow, she could already feel the warmth and support of Mira's essence from it.

"I know. They say the first friend you make at school is your best one, right?" She'd made some friends in middle school of course, but none of them had really stuck out as the number one for all time. _If they had gone through the experience Mira had, they might have._

"Of course, we have not been idle while you risked your own consciousness", Igor continued, his gesture drawing her attention to a new addition to the room. A pair of round hatches had been installed on opposite sides towards the back of the ship. "As promised, the Ritual of Persona Fusion is now prepared for you to use."

Aiko stared, not understanding. A round iron cage dangled on thick knotted ropes above both the hatches, their rusty-hinged doors already hanging limply open. It looked like an execution device. For a moment she thought Bartholomew might demonstrate it personally, but to her relief he merely beckoned her over.

"Using this, the power of two of your Personas can be merged into one. I need only place them within these cages, and then pull this lever."

She still stared, trying to comprehend what he meant. "Wait... so I give up two of my Personas for one? That doesn't sound like a good trade!"

Igor chuckled behind her. "Ah, but the resulting Persona shall be far stronger, so long as you possess the proper inner strength needed to wield it. Perhaps a demonstration is in order. Which two shall you give up?"

That was a choice that took a moment, though she suspected that either Igor or Bartholomew or both could already tell which ones she had acquired and which she was considering giving up. Anne Bonny was out of the question, but the image of the others flashed up in her mind's eye... _Fomor, Onkot, and Gu Huo Niao... which ones do I give up? Not like I'll need them now._

"Fomor and Gu Huo Niao", she announced after a minute, and to her relief neither of the masks within her rose in rebellion. Either they couldn't, or the sacrifice wasn't as extreme as it sounded. Either way, she felt guilty, like she was betraying them.

"Fear not", Bartolomew said quickly, as if sensing her quandary. "The memory of a fused Persona is the sum total of both, and they shall also inherit battle skills."

The assistant snapped his fingers, and in the next instant both the Personas mentioned were inside the hanging cages, the curved bar doors creaking loudly as they slammed shut on both. Neither Fomor or Gu Huo Niao seemed to mind much.

Before she could look either one in the eye, Bartolomew pulled the lever. The hatches flew open, and both cages dropped into darkness. Finally recognising the technique, Aiko turned on him in anger.

"That device... the cages. You're _keelhauling_ them?!"

"Well spotted", Bartholomew said calmly, not understanding her distress. "Yes, those two hatches lead outside of the hull, where the captives are left to drift in the waters of the sea of souls. This exposure quickly reduces them to their primary essence, which then instinctively combines together into a new one."

"But... they'll _die_!"

Bartholomew didn't seem bothered by this either. He shook his head. "A _human_ would die from it, or at least their body would be gradually reduced to base atoms while their soul drifted aimlessly until it fell down to the bottom of the sea. Personas are different. Their essences are naturally compatible with one another. It's not death. It's rebirth. You should ask your friend about the concept if you are so concerned."

Aiko said nothing. She could only stare helplessly at the two ropes, and feel the gap in her consciousness where two Persona had been moments before. "They... they were a part of me."

"They _volunteered_ to become a part of your mind", the attendant corrected her. His face had grown colder and paler than before, an aspect of him that she had not seen until now, all his usual courtesies dropped. "I _did_ warn you about too much compassion, dream voyager. You overflow with it and freely share it with many, but sympathy without the power to act upon it is meaningless. Your first Persona ought to have taught you that much."

Anne Bonny would indeed have agreed with the concept of sacrifice to bring about needed change, she knew. It was just the rest of her that was distressed, but it was obviously too late now to save either of them. The ropes were shifting about wildly on the pulleys as the sea toyed with the cages down below. It was worse that she couldn't see what was actually happening to them.

"If you're truly so concerned", Bartholomew told her, prying her chin up with his free hand, "then take a moment to consider the history of those whom you are sacrificing. Neither one is exactly innocent. Gu Huo Niao is a winged demon of folklore which is known for abducting young girls from their beds, and then raising them as her own children. Worse; a girl who is raised by a Gu Huo Niao is said to become one herself. Knowing that, do you _still_ feel any guilt for her loss?"

With the memory of Kogaya so fresh in her mind, naturally it conjured a ghastly mental image to accompany the boy's harsh words. A sharp taloned, green-skinned fiend swooping in to carry a crying young Aiko away from her bed in the dead of night to some far off nest where no one could find them, ignoring the infant child's desperate wails, forcing her into a demon's diet of human flesh. _'I'm your mother now! And you will grow wings and transform into my daughter!'_

"I... I hadn't considered that."

Letting go of the lever, the assistant made a dismissive noise towards her. "Then what of your first Persona, Anne Bonny? Humans do so love to romanticise the golden age of piracy. But in all truth, Captain Bonny was much like the other famous pirate captains of that era; she was a vicious murderess who robbed and pillaged the world at will, only giving regards to her own material gain. Why are you so proud to bear her aesthetics and name?"

It was Igor that saved her then. Not with his words, which remained infuriatingly cryptic as ever, but with the curious expression readable in those large round eyes and grin, so interested in seeing her reaction to Bartholomew's challenge. It wasn't a coincidence that this was the most confrontational his assistant had ever been since her first arrival in the Velvet Room. This was a _test._

She smiled back at grimly, her fists clenched. "Maybe she did kill and steal. But... There's so much more to her than just that, Bart-kun. A person who does those things can still have admirable qualities. That's what _my_ Persona is. It's her strength, her defiant will, her loyalty to her crew. It's an idealized version of her, and of me. Because... those feelings are a part of me too."

Had she failed? Bartolomew's coy smile told her the opposite, one golden eye glimmering aside his butterfly eye patch. "I see. So you believe that murder doesn't lay a curse upon a person, or all their achievements? What if it was done not for practicality, but for the sheer pleasure of ending another's life? What then?"

"Attendant", Igor called, though not unkindly. "Enough. The fusion should be complete now."

Falling silent, Bartholomew pulled the simple wooden lever back down, causing the twin cages to slowly rise back up on their squeaking pulleys before their doors swung back open. The moment they did, two collections of distorted energy flew out, both changing colours too quickly for any eye to pin down until they had both spun around together several times, until one could not be discerned from the other.

With one final clap of power, the resulting merger resolved into a physical shape, descending before them all in the middle of the room, becoming a black-haired, winged demon girl clad in a stark white leotard. Smaller than either of the Personas which had gone into the creation, she nonetheless radiated greater power than they had.

"Hiiii!", she called in a low, sultry tone, winking dark blue eyes at them both. "I'm Lilim! As your new mask, I'll be the source of your strength!"

Aiko could only laugh as the new Persona returned to an energy state and flowed back into her head, becoming her mask once more. Unlike the previous Shadow, she knew the folklore behind this one all too well. "Oh, I'm so glad that we got rid of that evil Gu Huo Niao, Bart-kun!", she chortled. "A daughter of Lilith is _so_ much nicer to have along with me. Thanks."

"Only you can be the judge of that", the assistant acknowledged without laughing despite being well aware of the irony here. "As you said yourself, their history doesn't matter. What matters is your use for them."

"I know", Aiko agreed, serious once more. She hadn't forgotten the confidence and defiance that Anne Bonny had awakened in her, and never would... Just as Galahad and Oya had changed Pelagio and Mira for the better. "Only my first Persona awakening really affected my mind, but I know that I can affect the others. Maybe with me, learning through me, they can find their own redemption."

"Redemption?", Bartholomew asked thoughtfully, placing one hand on a pale chin as if the concept were new to him. "Redemption, hm? Redemption... is a rare and special thing. It's not for everyone. But if that is what you wish to attempt, then I won't stop you."

"All I can do is try", she told him, prying that hand away so he didn't look so morose. "There's no harm in trying, Bart-kun." Heaving a sigh, she looked back around the Velvet room.

"Not that it matters right now. I appreciate the new powers and everything, but I'm not sure if I'll be using them much. It's over. It's finished. Right, Mr. Igor? Mira-senpai is safe now. I'll find a way to stop other people from venturing into Faraway Lands like she did, even if the police don't."

The amused chuckle this drew from her host made her hair stand on end and filled her nerves with pins and needles. It was the forbearance of a being who had witnessed events like the disappearance of Mirambela, the unlocking of Personas, and her subsequent rescue many, many times. For far longer than Aiko had been alive, this strange long-nosed man had hopefully watched humans of every possible type struggle endlessly against the darkest, most self-destructive aspects of their own collective psyche. The struggle against the monster called 'oneself'.

And whatever it was that Igor truly saw in the newly determined, yet still inexperienced green eyes and the mind of this young, fair-haired girl standing before him now, he must have found most amusing and curious to behold for himself.

"Over?", he asked in mock surprise. " _Finished_? Oh, but you delude yourself, bearer of the wild card. You would do well to heed my words..."

His grin widened further somehow, and when he spoke next, it sounded as though her fate was being proclaimed by some far-off deity, unseen even by his large eyes:

" ** _It's only just begun."_**

* * *

" _So", the castaway who called himself Manan commented, one gnarled hand stroking a beard that seemed healthier than the rest of him put together, "that is how you came to be here, then?"_

 _The tale thus far had been a difficult one to explain, and the girl from the sea had been required to take several breaks to set her memories in order. Despite this, many of them remained disjointed, an infuriating muddle of sounds and images that made her head hurt to focus on._

 _During those breaks, Manan had gone to gather materials for a fire, the warmth of which they now partook of together upon the eternal shore._

" _It was a lot to take in", she acknowledged wearily. "More than once, I questioned if I really had gone nuts. But it wasn't going away either. Personas, Shadows, the gate at the Yume Bay... they're all completely real. They all happened, and only Mira-senpai and I knew about them."_

" _Her, and your winged companion", Manan corrected politely._

" _Yes, of course", she agreed, angry at having forgotten the being who had introduced her to Faraway Lands. How could she forget the sound of that overly dignified harumph he was fond of, or the way his round bird chest puffed out when he did it? "Pela-chan, my loyal Guardian. The title that he chose for himself, as we all did."_

" _Then, others must have come to that dimension, lured in by the promise of a paradise specifically made for them. And you chose to interfere with them as well?"_

 _Her hands gripped the sand, leaving behind shallow claw marks. "They were brought there by despair. They didn't know what they were signing up for."_

 _Manan stared out at the water and lay back on a pack of ferns he had arranged into an improvised cushion, doing the same for her. "How do you know that? The voice which brought them to the other world never whispered in your ear as it did so many others."_

" _No", she admitted, gazing glumly into the fire, its light filled her eyes until she was dazzled. "I was never promised a Land. Back then, I was intent on making Koashimizu academy my home, no matter who or what tried to stop me."_

 _Inclining his head, the castaway raised a handful of sand as if in offering. "What do you believe your Land would have looked like, had you given in to despair and followed the voice into the gate?"_

" _I hadn't thought about that much", she shrugged uneasily. "I'll never know for sure, because I never let myself wish I was somewhere else that badly. Sure, I had my own problems, and they almost stopped me from continuing on sometimes... I guess it would be something like Koashimizu without all the mean people. My mom would be there, and she would act like she loved me."_

Act like she loved me. _The words came back to her almost instantly, and she realized what she had just said. "I mean, she would actually love me. No acting. That's what the cognitions do. I mean, uh..."_

" _It's all hypothetical anyway, lass", Manan assured her placatingly. "I was only asking to see if you truly understood what these other people were being offered, and what you took away from them."_

 _She became dimly aware then that her hat was missing, but straightened her drenched captain's coat in a parody of impugned dignity. Weak and threadbare as it was, it was still better than going exposed, even if Manan didn't seem like the sort to care about such a thing in this place._

" _Hey... where are we, anyway?"_

 _Manan shrugged innocently. "Perhaps this is your Land after all? A person's desires can change over time. What you desired then is not what you seek now. You've changed."_

" _I changed", Aiko agreed softly. She was remembering more now, just how much things changed across the following months after her first encounters with the hidden ocean of human consciousness, the endless sea of stars that no adult could reach or know. "My friends changed too. I found more of them."_

" _Because you felt their despair", Manan extrapolated, taking a moment to toss another bit of tree upon the fire. "You knew they would be lured in by the attraction of the Yume Bay, and refused to let any of them have what they desired."_

 _Remembering the tone of voice that had irked her a moment before, she shook her head. "I don't need to justify it. If they'd stayed and I'd done nothing, their bodies would have washed up on the shore. Mr. Igor said that would accelerate the 'world regression', but it would also make a lot of people sad. And dead."_

 _Manan, she had begun to realize now, was much like Bartholomew. He was argumentative, and seeking admissions of truths from her that only he knew. The fact that he had saved her life earlier mitigated her suspicion, but only for now. At least, he didn't seem convinced at all by her reasoning._

" _'Mr. Igor'", he repeated as if testing the sound of the name on his tongue. "What do you know of Igor, lass? How do you know that he truly has humanity's best interests at heart? Do you even know what a world regression embodies?"_

" _I... don't", she had to confess. "Not really. I can't picture it right now. All I knew was that I wanted to save the life of anyone who was lured in there."_

" _Another mistake in logic", Manan lamented, tapping the tip of his beard. "You said 'dead', but they would live on in a different form, wouldn't they? You visited the Furusato girl?"_

" _Eventually", she recalled. "Not for a while, but we did. It wasn't pretty to look at." She trembled. "No, it was worse. Even more of a nightmare than the other Lands were. A lot of other things happened before then. If we'd sailed to Ayano-san's Land right after I saved Mira-senpai, just the three of us, then we definitely would have died."_

 _The castaway gave an exasperated sigh. "Not 'died'. Simply become a part of that dimension, and then eventually repurposed into a different form of consciousness."_

 _The campfire flared up in sync with Aiko's own anger, but she got it uner control quickly. "It sounds like the same thing. Maybe all this has made me rethink what the afterlife is, but Death is still Death. Nothing you say is going to make me stop avoiding the Reaper for as long as I can."_

 _Manan relented, knowing without needing to dwell on the automatic human instinct to flee the Reaper._

" _It wasn't just me", she told him, feeling more confident that she'd regained control of things. "It was a decision all of us made. This wasn't just about 'Saber' deciding to save people against their will."_

 _She laid back in a parody of the castaway's own relaxed pose. Even if she was feeling far from relaxed, remembering the others who had willingly joined her crew got her going in that direction._

" _Not just Saber. It's about Guardian, and Dancer too. It's about Mender, Witch, Gunslinger, Countess, and even Watcher. Together, the eight of us chose to break the chains that held us down, and pillage a dawn of illusions before it could engulf_ _everyone's souls with the promise of immortality."_

 _"Let me explain, now that I can remember more clearly..."_

* * *

A/N: So there's the 'intro arc' done. Hope everyone enjoyed it and is interested in seeing more after all that foreshadowing. I haven't seen much in the way of feedback yet, but while I do have a big 'buffer' built up now, I'll certainly take any suggestions into consideration while planning the rest.

I'll probably take an extra week or two before starting the next 'arc', but that may depend on certain other circumstances IRL. While you're waiting, I would recommend trying out Crimson by Dowdz and Destiny of Death by World Balance if you haven't already, as those are the two stories that together inspired me to try this.


	12. Perfectly Ordinary Day

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/21 Sunday

Morning

 _You wouldn't understand because you're a hafu._

 _Your Japanese is really good for a foreigner._

 _(Shocked Gasp) Are you a hafu?_

 _I wasn't expecting Japanese to come out of that face._

 _You're a hafu? Let's hang out!_

 _Oh, you're such a cute little hafu, Jiachi-kun!_

 _But you're not_ _really_ _Japanese you know. You're a hafu._

Julian Rosea hated the sound of silence. It made time seem to stretch on forever and inevitably made him start to turn on the other person for not saying anything of interest. It made him feel like they were both (or all) walking corpses.

But now, sitting there in his father's car, he found himself on the opposite end of the equation.

Akusa Rosea liked to wear most of his brown sugar hair tied back into a thick tail much like some at Koashimizu, as well as leaving a noticeable shell of ashen stubble around his chin that always seemed on the verge of transforming into the start of a beard before he would shave it off and begin again. His other main visual upkeep was fresh on his face today as well- a tanning job that shaded his skin darker than it was naturally.

"Did your soccer tryouts go okay?", he asked, eyes never visibly leaving the road but somehow able to study his expression as well. "I know you wanted to get in this year."

"Y-yeah", he said when the crushing silence in the car finally became too much to bear. "It was fine. Same coach as last year, but I think he likes me better now."

"Congratulations", his father said more brightly. "Sorry we won't be able to see any of your games. We both have to work, to keep what we have, as well as... well, never mind."

The dismissive tone had exactly the opposite effect as desires, setting off alarm bells in his skull. "Something happened? The mortgage payments-"

"Nothing", his father promised with a haste that suggested the opposite. "It's nothing. We'll make it, don't worry. Funds are a bit tight right now, you know that. But we'll make it, Jiachi. Don't you worry."

An angry correction to the name he'd used welled up in his throat and died unused. His father wasn't like the students at Koashimizu. They used the name Jiachi, the name that he despised, as a tool to aggravate him. His father just used it because he insisted, and disputing it would only provoke an argument just as it had several times before now.

And it was also clear to him that subject had already been touched on. His father was taking a deep, dramatic breath as he always did when he wanted to have a difficult, but necessary talk with someone. Over the last few years with his son, that was rapidly becoming every conversation.

"We got a call the other day, from Mr. Ishinagi. He said you'd been caught fighting with other students again."

He shouldn't have been angered by that turn, but he was. _Not even a week and Ishinagi's already on my case. Can't he just leave me alone?_

There was more silence, and his father had to be the one continue. "Jiachi... we've had this talk before. You can't let the other students set you off so easily. I know I taught you better than that, so... I'd appreciate if you could start showing that you actually do listen to me for once."

Julian let his eyes droop shut so he could imagine his father talking to him from across a vast, barren canyon instead of being face to face with him as the car reached the city's main streets. "It wasn't easy."

"Pardon?"

"I said _it wasn't easy_!", he was shouting now. "I _tried,_ alright? I put up with their shit until I can't take any more. They _ask_ for it! They act like I'm some kind of time bomb, just 'cause I'm half-"

" _Enough_ ". Akusa didn't cut his son off with the word, but its finality remained a strong presence in the air between them. "We talked about this. You have to be calm. Disciplined, just like all the native students who, you may notice, aren't getting reported within two weeks of the new school year. Student discipline is much more important in this country- that's one of the many things I've always admired about it."

A dozen cutting responses withered and died half-formed in his mind. There was no point. He settled for saying nothing until they were in front of the building, a common suburban rectangle of white concrete and dark windows, nearly a perfect square if viewed from the top. He was one of the few students who lived close enough to their family to enjoy a trip home every Sunday, but after this opening he was beginning to wonder if that was a mistake, if he wouldn't have been better just staying in his dorm the whole year.

At least his mother wasn't quite so passive-aggressive, even if she still used that name he hated. He noticed that she had abandoned her usual masterful use of cosmetics and other effects to hide her age, allowing faded auburn hair to sag down in sparse threads along the sides of her scalp. He didn't care so long as the most important part of her face- the part that showed him clear, uncomplicated happiness at having her son back home, even if for a single day.

That feeling only intensified when she brought out a baking tray loaded down with her own specially baked rice cakes. Julian never quite understood the exact combination of vegetable extract and heat that was used to create them, only that they remained to this day the very best thing he'd ever tasted. "Hey, thanks mom", he made sure to say before taking a big bite. "Koashimizu tries, but they'll never top anything you make. Ever thought about becoming a caterer?"

"A few times", she joked back, smiling weakly. "I'd have to learn to cook a lot more types of dishes before I could try that. Although, maybe if my clientele consisted of nobody except you or your father..."

"I'd pay. You can cater for my wedding.", his father chipped in before his face slid back into disgust as he saw the TV he'd left on past the main area where several futons lay strewn around a table. "Damnit, not this again."

The markings and organised frames of one of Tokyo's main news stations were easy to spot even from how far away Julian was from the TV. What became clearer as he drew closer was what exactly they were reporting on.

"-in the last thirty years, this country enjoyed a level of growth surpassing world superpowers", a determined-sounding man looking around Akusa's own age was speaking into a microphone. "Yet now, our economy has become stagnant, our workforce fragmented and desperate for enough money to support their families. We must have _harmony!_ No machine can run properly while so many of its parts are so incompatible with the whole, and this-"

His father had finally reached the mute button then, swiftly changing the channel to try and hide the fact that he had been watching the report on the Tokyo rally himself before going to pick Julian up.

Taking a seat, Julian made a show of thinking over what he'd seen before turning to his father and shrugging. "Peh. More like JCRAP."

"Maybe", he said more gravely. "But you can see how many people come to their rallies to cheer them. Hundreds of thousands of loyal Tokyo citizens. They believe that we are what's holding the country back, and spoiling things for everyone else. That's why it's so important that we blend in, Jiachi. We _don't_ want to be targeted."

 _News flash dad_ , he wanted to scream, _we already are._

While it was true that they hadn't seen a repeat of the initial vandalism of their home that had occurred two years ago, the other signs of it had proven far more damaging than simply getting windows replaced or outdoor walls repainted. His mother had been working at the bottom rung of a clothing manufacturer for nearly ten years now without any sign of a raise or promotion. Her hands carried themselves with the same manual dexterity that he was so proud of demonstrating at school, but also countless blemishes. Sometimes, they would even bleed, and she would need to apply a special herbal solution to stop it.

His father had been locked into a similar rut, all the while new citizenship laws had been passing to make it even more costly for them to own a home. Akusa hadn't needed to mention their tight finances to his son- it was a hard reality that he'd long since come to grips with.

He'd learned to make due with what he had, and keep his own spending to a bare minimum. The only thing he really splurged on was the collection of DVDs in room, which he absolutely looked forward to unwinding with later and forgetting about all this pressure, both from within and without. It was nice when he could pretend to be free of it, if only for a little while.

 _What does he expect me to be? A carbon copy of every other native student my age? Dye my hair black? Just keep my head down and never do anything that might draw attention?_

"I'll be careful", he promised dully. "You heard about that girl who disappeared, right?"

Akusa nodded sadly in his seat. "Things have gotten pretty dangerous around here too. There's been rumours about all sorts of strange happenings in the city. There's that vigilante back now as well. You remember?"

His mother raised a hand of objection though. "Dear, Jiachi's just gotten home. He doesn't need to hear about all of that madness. I'll be making udon for tonight, don't forget to wash up."

Julian let a light smirk creep onto his face at the lack of clarification as to who she wanted to make sure washed their hands. "Sure thing. I'll just be in my room in a little while. Just need to go visit with gramps first, is he out on the porch like usual?"

A cold breeze filled the house, triggered by his words. The expression on his father's face in particular was so worrying that began to fear the worst. "What? Did something happen? Is he alright?"

Akusa rose. "He's just fine, Jiachi. Just fine. He's... at his house."

 _At his house. Not at our house. Not like he was when I left last time._

The fine-grained floorboards seemed to twist wildly beneath him, sliding away into free fall. To their credit, neither of his parents retreated when they felt the dangerous air coming off their son, and kept looking at him when he spoke again, each word a flying dagger mainly aimed at his father.

" _You made him leave."_

"It was time", Akusa argued back, unyielding as before. "He's almost 70. They can look after him better over there than we can."

"That doesn't matter!", he shouted. The overwhelming sensation of heat seemed to be pushing outwards into his skin now. He felt as if his eyes were bulging. "He didn't want to go! He said so! He said he wanted to stay here with us!"

'Jiachi", his mother tried carefully, hands nervously wringing at each other until the old blisters glowed, "we're well aware that he wanted to stay here. But we've discussed this before. You know that he's... difficult. We can't watch him when we're both working full time to keep this place. If he left the house, who knows what sort of trouble he might get into?"

"It's a very nice house", his father said, his voice forced into a taut-string calm. "A fine neighbourhood with a lot of other houses for honoured elders. There are caretakers there who can look after them. It cost us a fortune, but we both agreed it was better to do it this way."

"I don't care-", Julian ground out. His eyes blurred, the herald of tears. "-How much it costs! He wanted to stay here! He was the only one... the only one who..."

They all fell silent for a long while, none sure what exactly to say. For a moment, it was so deathly quiet they could actually hear the cars driving by.

Then... "I know he meant a lot to you, Jiachi. He meant a lot to all of us. Don't you understand?"

He paused, turning to the window. He couldn't look at them any more. Not after what they'd done. "Oh, I understand. I understand that you never liked the things we talked about when we were together. Now you're trying to keep us apart."

"I promise, that wasn't why we did it. He was getting too troublesome and-"

Akusa's voice dropped off, able to see in his wife's face that he'd said exactly the wrong thing. Trying to recover, he fell back on the quiet, barely restrained anger from the car, a hanging ultimatum from the man who was still master of their household.

"Just the fact that you're acting this way about is proof that we're right, Jiachi. He acts this way too. He doesn't realise that it's bad form. People forgive him some of it because he's older, but sometimes even then..."

He swore he could feel brain cells combusting into flame. Distantly, as if controlled by someone else, his hand clenched into a fist. "Yeah, I see. 'Cause he's just too troublesome, right? Right?"

He had to go. He had to get to his room. He could lock the door and sleep, and then when he woke up gramps would still be there. His father remained positioned between him and the main hall where all the rooms were, clearly not liking the idea of leaving their relationship in this condition but unable to find the right words.

Julian had words though. They erupted from him like he'd spent all day penting them up, directed only at Akusa. "Maybe later I should start being troublesome too, yeah? Then I'd get to leave this place behind."

"You're acting like a child, Jiachi! You can't-"

" _My name is Julian."_

Neither of them got in his way as he sped down the hall on autopilot, only breathing once he was hunkered down on his futon with the door closed. A collection of movies on disk lay exposed along the wall as if it had been eagerly waiting for him to pop in one of his favourites and veg out until dinner time.

But he didn't feel like watching a movie right now. He didn't feel like playing any video games, or even twirling something on his fingers to take the stress off.

He didn't feel like doing anything except curling into the sheets, hoping against hope that they would absorb him, devour him and everything he was, worries, frustration and all, and he would finally have freedom.

He wasn't that lucky though.

 _With your first step you will burn_

 _Can't control the hate you have learned?_

 _Killing slow is the way I conquer_

 _Until you know the meaning of suffer_

* * *

4/22 Monday

After School

Aiko Tsuruga was unabashedly happy, sunlight shining down into her hair as she stared across the cliff. Today it felt like the last two weeks of torment and trial had never happened. Like everything was starting anew, except 'right' this time.

It was a brand new day.

There were no more detentions. No more violence. No further smear campaigns from Benihime Kujou as far she could tell, and people were actually excited to learn that Mirambela Sorano was no longer declared missing. Somewhat embarrassingly, principal Yumika had declared as such over the PA this morning- even he couldn't keep the enthusiasm out of his voice entirely. Even Mr. Noriyama seemed more easygoing than usual, giving a simple, straightforward lecture about the first formation of the 'rules' of war in Feudal times without yelling at anyone.

There was no more Faraway Lands. No more Shadows. The Personas stayed, hovering distantly in the back of her awareness, and she was grateful for them even if they were not needed. There had been no further need to revisit the Velvet room in her dreams. Not since...

 _ **'It's only just begun.'**_

Ah, there it was. One small cloud on an otherwise perfect day. Still, it was a cloud that was easily ignored for now. Mr. Igor had been characteristically vague, not giving up any kind of details of when it might be necessary for her to return to the roiling black waters which he called 'the sea of human consciousness'.

" _Indeed, my dear guest. This is only the start of your journey into unknown shores. The soul of the friend you have saved is only that- a single soul. This situation exists due to a powerful desire shared by billions of humans. A desire to possess a world all to their own away from others, a world where their darkest dreams are made into reality. The unspoken desire to fragment reality in this way is not so easily dispelled... and neither is its chosen avatar of chaos and regression, whatever its true identity may be."_

She pondered it over on the cliff behind the main building where the half-finished pool and changing rooms lay, as if a silent reminder of the perils of leaving a job unfinished.

 _So. Faraway Lands, the starless sea. People wander into that dimension when they want a better home really, really badly_ , she considered. _At least, that was the case with Mirambela. She said that she heard a voice calling to her on the beach when she ran down there. Her own voice, promising her a land of her dreams in the green light beyond._

Only... was really that her problem anymore?

Mira was being questioned closely by the police now, and Aiko couldn't think of any way to avoid telling them the truth of what had happened. _This really isn't something we should have to deal with. I'm just a student, and Pelagio's a bird. The adults should be the ones to learn of this and deal with it. But... how would they?_

Cordoning off the bay seemed the likely outcome. If that happened, then people would be safe from the gate, and there would be no need for her powers any more. Igor's prophecy about the world's regression into chaos would be rendered moot. She would be able to live a normal life without worrying about any of that.

Right?

Right.

 _Still..._ She couldn't deny that she actually trusted Igor's advice more than the police. He knew all about this strange phenomena she'd been pulled into, while they didn't have a clue it even existed. If he said that Faraway Lands would continue to pull in new victims to increase its power, and cause a 'world regression'- whatever _that_ was- then she was inclined to believe him. _Better safe than sorry. Especially with something this dangerous._

 _I'll certainly know when it happens. Every disappearance so far has been publicised. Even if I had no connection to the victim at all, I would still hear about it. And they say media glut is a bad thing._

And when that happened, she and Pelagio could pursue them into their Land, defeat their Shadow, and save them before their soul was lost.

So there was no point in worrying about it until then, she decided. If it happened, it happened. She could hope it never did, that no one else ever got as desperate for change as Mira had been, but if they did she would be there.

 _It's only just begun._

"Tsuruga-san?"

Now didn't this seem familiar? It was Shukiji Niyoga, his dark hair even longer and more obscuring than before, but always recognisable. She waved back. "Is this your favourite hangout, Niyoga-kun?"

"Something like that." He deliberately sat down next to her on the cliff in the exact same position they'd been in on the day they'd met, then raised a finger to his mouth melodramatically. "Oops, accidental disclosure. Perhaps that could be considered the start of a payment for what I want to ask you?"

Her eye-rolling was involuntary. She had become familiar with just how stingy the school's self-proclaimed 'information merchant' was about giving even the simplest of answers to questions, and she didn't like it. He claimed to be her friend, but in her humble opinion, real friends weren't so tight-lipped or snobbish.

"We'll call it a start. I guess it was too much to hope for that you came up here because you wanted to visit me?"

"When did I say it wasn't both?", he asked, folding arms behind his head innocently. "It looks like you've had quite the interesting couple of weeks here."

"Master of understatement." He had no idea, for once.

"Yes, that's practically my nickname", he agreed stately. "Now then. If that satisfies your need for meaningless banter that accomplishes nothing, then let's get down to business. Mirambela Sorano disappeared, then returned after a week. _Alive_ , unlike Furusato-chan. If anyone here would know why, it would be you."

There was the immediate temptation to rebuke him with his own medicine after he'd been so very unhelpful in resolving any of Mira's problems.

But she, Aiko, wasn't Shukiji.

"If you're really this big information kingpin, then you already know why she disappeared. Mattora. Kujou. All her school assignments being mysteriously deleted... and of course, _me_ , being so idiotically careless with the information you gave me. It was one big mess that we helped cause."

The single eye she could spot beneath his black bushel widened, his lips curling into something like an amused grin. "Oh. Don't hold back or anything. Actually, I was more interested in learning where she went for that week. She was last spotted running out of the school down the hill to the beach, and then nothing. Not one sighting."

Damn it, he _would_ have to be sharp. Fortunately, without any inkling of Faraway Lands, even the best detective in the world couldn't begin to predict what had happened to Mirambela, or how she had come back.

"The police are questioning her", she offered, raising a hand to the afternoon sun. "Maybe you should offer them some of your best information in exchange?"

"You're unhelpful, but correct." Shukiji pushed up and folded his arms contemplatively. "However, I believed that you would have some ideas as well, since she met with you first before personally presenting herself to the police. Additionally, you were the one who submitted the report last Sunday. I heard that you spent several of the following days at the beach after class."

"So you want to know what she said to me when she came back?"

"Yes. And I would be willing to trade for it."

Aiko bent further to hide an amused smile. Not for the first time, the school's 'information merchant' was offering to trade her for something relatively worthless. But maybe she was underestimating him. His 'scan' of her when they'd first met still lingered in her mind as one of the most impressive- and kind of scary if she was completely honest- things she'd ever seen since coming to Koashimizu.

Maybe he actually did know something about Faraway Lands already. It was almost funny to think that he knew nothing at all, never even suspecting what lay right beneath their noses.

"Alright", she said at last. "In return, you have tell me what made you like this, Shu-kun. And no half-answers."

He regarded her disgustedly, the single visible eye narrowed. "Tell you my entire life story in exchange? I am that I am, Tsuruga-chan, and there's no one I'd rather be. Certainly preferable to the indolent idiots that make up most of our male student body. No deal."

"Darn", she replied exaggeratedly before pausing to decide on a different request. "Then I want to know how to get extracurricular stuff authorised." Before he could answer, she held up a hand. " _Not_ the official way. I just had to read the school code for _days_. The way that will actually _work_."

His lip curled in amusement. "You're learning. Sadly, the student disciplinary committee is not the only warped power flow here. You have something in mind that you want to try, knowing your reputation?"

"Knowing my reputation", she echoed fake-merrily. Of course Shukiji knew her nickname, merely being polite enough not to use it and invoke the annoyingly persistent label of 'delinquent'. "I'm still brainstorming, but you have to admit this school is seriously lacking in extras for its size. Maybe it wouldn't be so grim if people had something else to look forward to after class besides homework and dinner. I'll be talking to Julian-kun later to try something like that."

She didn't have to so much as glance at the half-finished hole in the ground for him to know what she meant. "You aren't the only student or teacher to try such things. Most of the time, their initiatives fall victim to lack of interest."

"There's a lot of that going around", she acknowledged. "Still, I want to try. So spill."

Shukiji shrugged. "You first. I went last time. The trade is fair."

"Fair enough", she agreed, silently hoping that he wouldn't be mad at the lack of anything incriminating and renege.

"I found her on the shore where all the fishing boats rest. We headed back to the dorm together. She said thank you."

Naturally, he looked disappointed. She would have been too, in his position. "That's all?"

"That's all."

"You didn't ask her where she had gone for an entire week?"

"No. I was just so happy to have her back. I didn't think to ask questions."

Stymied, he fell silent, gazing back across the grassy edge of what she had already started to think of as 'their cliff'.

"You're a very unusual one, Tsuruga-chan. Every time I speak to you, I always remember that."

"Pot to kettle."

He caught himself at the last moment, preventing a laugh from escaping. "Of course, I was hoping to get confirmation of a theory I had. A shame. There's no information in this world that I shouldn't have."

"A theory?" Suddenly it felt like the gentle wind had dropped altogether. Did he know after all? "What theory?"

Shukiji smiled foxily. She was learning as well, that no matter how she tried, he always seemed to have the better surprise in store whenever they talked.

"I had begun to hypothesise that Sorano-san was _Hex_."

* * *

4/22 Monday

Evening

Mirambela was waiting for her in room 22. Just waiting, for a period of time she would never know, until she could lunge forward and bear hug Aiko.

" _Thank you"_ , she whispered in her ear over and over, the strands of her dark brown hair hanging down messily between them. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You saved me. Like you said you would."

Her grip was even stronger than before, and in seconds she felt herself starting to choke, and frantically signalled for her to let go. "You saved yourself, Mira-senpai. I was just there to help."

"It sure didn't feel like that", she argued as they returned to sitting on their beds. "I know I said it already. But the more time I spent in the real world, the more I remembered of that other world, and how I was acting in there. How I was _thinking_. It was horrible!"

Aiko shook her head. "No, Mira-senpai. Your _Shadow_ was horrible. _You_ weren't. Anyone would go a little crazy after what you went through this week, but _you_ are the one who told your Shadow to go take a hike. All I did was beat her up. Sorry... what _we_ did."

Mira nodded. "Right, Pelagio. I could hardly believe it either when a _bird_ came up and started talking to me. I thought I was still back in that other world... I have to thank him, too."

A voice came to them through the vertical glass rectangle of their window then, heralding the arrival of their favourite stuck-up bird on the narrow sill, albeit slightly muffled. "Ah... actually, I would prefer to be called sir Pelagio if you please, miss Sorano. But your thanks is much appreciated."

"Should we?", Mira asked.

Aiko shrugged, reaching over to lift the window. "May as well. He knows to make himself scarce if somebody comes knocking, _right_ Pela-tori?"

Casually strutting through into the other side of the sill, Pelagio's talons contracted, creating an ironic little bow that no normal bird would ever do. "But of course, my lady. I'm perfectly aware of the restrictions on young males entering this dorm. This shall be as far as I come."

"You don't sound so young", Mira commented, still taken aback at the mere existence of a talking falcon appearing at their dorm window. "Wait. How old _are_ you, sir Pelagio?"

His beak clicked. "I'm... afraid I cannot say for certain. I merely remember waking up on an island in Faraway Lands several years ago by my reckoning. My voice and size have not changed at all since that time... merely my skill with the sword."

"Time works differently there", Aiko reminded her. "We spent hours exploring in there, but whenever we left the gate only about 30 minutes passed in this world. Not that I'm complaining- it's definitely convenient for us. Anyway, whatever Pela-chan is probably doesn't age the same way as humans."

Mira suddenly put her hand up to a worried face. "Oh no! Birds only live for-"

"Pardon my interruption, girls", Pelagio cut her off, his darker chest feathers ruffling. "But I am NOT a bird. I only took on this form when I emerged into your world. My true body is the one you see in Faraway Lands."

"Hm. The ship, or the knight?", Aiko asked thoughtfully.

"Hmph! Both! At any rate, my age is irrelevant to my duty."

"Alright", she relented. "You definitely tell us if you feel like you're getting any gray feathers though, okay?"

Mira shook her head in unrestrained marvel at their companion. "He's the strangest thing to come out of that other world, and that's really saying something. That's what was on my mind while I was waiting for you to get back. I just wanted to go ahead and get it out in the open now... _what the hell?!_ "

Knowing Mirambela to be even more judicious with profanity than she was, Aiko nodded back as if the same question had been brewing in her mind for weeks. Perhaps it had.

"Faraway Lands", she explained when Pelagio seemed puzzled by her outburst. "What _is_ it? How does it exist, and how long has that gate at Yume bay been there?"

If they expected clear answers from the falcon, they would be disappointed, talons gripping the sill's wood as he replied. "If a pair of Shadows were to convene to discuss such questions regarding the human world, would you have an answer for them? That world is the literal sea of the human subconscious, my lady. In one form or another, it must have always existed."

"Huh. Well I guess _I_ won't be sleeping tonight", Aiko shivered mightily on her bed, knees drawn up under her arms. "A place like _that_ , hiding from human eyes all this time... Now I'm starting to wonder if those other rumours are real too. You know, the ones about the world inside the TV, or the hidden 25th hour of the day?"

"They're just _rumours_ ", Mira warned her shrilly, desperate for things not to get any weirder than they already had. "Just because that place is real, doesn't mean every single crazy rumour that gets thrown around is. Is that rumour about you stuffing your bra real?"

Aiko sighed and cast her eyes up to the ceiling. "Still trying to push that? You'd think she'd have something better to do with her time. But I do find it strange that you were the only one to go through the gate, Mira-senpai. Niyoga-kun said that other students tried it too, but all they got out of it was wet clothes, until..."

"Until Furusato-san disappeared", Mira finished bleakly. "The police told me about that. They think I just fell in the water and hid on the beach for a week, not wanting to go back to school... Which I guess is kind of true, in a way."

"She's gone", Aiko announced vacantly, the afterglow of victory momentarily blunted by that failure. "The hospital is still trying to prevent the body from giving out, but she's gone now. Noel-kun told me yesterday."

It was Mira's turn to shiver. "And that could have been me too, if I'd stayed there much longer. Did Noel-kun say anything else?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm really worried about him. The way he acted when she was brought in... he was praying for her safe return the day before. I didn't see him in class today. What if he...?"

The trio fell silent for a moment, processing that possibility. "I shall watch over the Yume Bay gate during the time when it opens", Pelagio vowed to them. "Even if I cannot prevent a human from entering it- and I shall certainly try my utmost to do so- I can at least inform you two of such an incident, since you're both able to understand me. Any who enter Faraway Lands can still be saved if we act quickly. If your friend had entered already, the waters would be extremely wild at the moment. Yet, they remain calm."

"You'd save them", Mira observed, trying to catch up on things the other two had mastered by now. "Using that Persona power, right? Like Oya?"

"That's right", Aiko nodded more confidently. Unlike the rest, this was something she was fairly confident in her knowledge of. "Personas. The facades we present to the world around us. Our other selves, which we can summon into that other world. Pela-chan has Galahad, and I have Anne Bonny... And a few more with me besides."

"That seems to be a unique gift, my lady", Pelagio noted with admiration. "A Persona is the opposite of a Shadow, correct? That is why you were able to convince some Shadows to join with you and become your masks, yes?"

"Pretty much. Seems like only I can do that though." She reached up with a hand to outline her vanished hat, struggling to describe exactly how it felt to call upon or change Personas in a battle. "I just kind of... focus on this, and I call their name, and Anne Bonny changes to one of the others I have. It comes in handy."

"No kidding", Mira applauded. She had seen that power employed against her own Shadow just a few days ago, the two of them tearing the machine woman apart with their various powers before Mira herself had stepped in to banish her for good. "Well, I don't think I can do that, but I know that Oya's raring to go if something like this happens again. I... I can feel her in my head."

Aiko hesitated. She really wanted to just say no, to say that Mirambela had already been through more than enough hurt for one lifetime, but it was also very clear to her just how well that decree would go over. _Just like Pelagio was with me at first. Too overprotective. Too worried that someone might hurt her. Well, I'm right to worry. But after what she saw in herself back there... I think she'll be okay._

Praying that she wasn't making a mistake, she reached out the hand that wasn't holding her ruby shard and grasped that of her friend.

"...We'll be glad to have you along with us, Senpai."

"Indeed", Pelagio chirped without complaint. "Any friend of my lady is a friend of mine, and a new comrade in arms is always welcome."

Seeing the raw happiness on Mira's face, Aiko knew she'd made the right decision. _Besides, any Shadow who wants to hurt her will have to get through us first._ "Even if we don't have another person to rescue, I'd still like to go back. Not now. Not when any of us have other things to do, but when we all have time to spare."

Despite her earlier enthusiasm, Mira was confused. "We'd go back there without anyone to save? Why?"

She stood firm, having already considered their purpose in detail. "Because... I want to try to find Furusato-san's Land, wherever it might be. For Noel-kun's sake, even if it's true she can never leave. Once we find it, we can bring him there to visit. Exploring the rest of that sea might also let us find out the real truth behind its origins... Including Pela-tori's."

Pelagio seemed as concerned about that idea as Mira, even if his worry only came across in his voice, limited in expression by his beak and raptor's eyes. "All of that is certainly a possibility, my lady. But such a voyage of exploration should be handled with the greatest of care. I have asked you in the past not to underestimate the Shadows, and there are many more dangerous varieties out there in the wilder parts of Faraway Lands, both on the seas and off."

"We'll be careful", Aiko vowed. "We'll only go on the days when everyone is completely, totally ready, and we'll back out if there's the slightest sign of something we can't handle." Privately, she doubted that they would ever run into any Shadow more brutal than Mirambela's Shadow had been. _So long as we avoid the Reaper's ship, we should be okay._

"Then it's settled", Mira agreed, masking her own fear for the sake of others who might be suffering from the dimension which had entrapped her. "But like you said, not right now. I have a lot of homework to catch up on."

Pelagio elected to stay however, promising he would remain quiet. "Actually, Senpai", Aiko told her. "Not quite as much as you think. I spoke with Takao-sensei today, and he believes it was a computer glitch which deleted all your old assignments. He's willing to give you a chance to catch up. You can submit everything at the end of this week."

"I will", Mira promised automatically, reaching into a bag. "That's why I need to get started right away. I'm going to make sure that I do everything written from now on, even if it takes me longer."

"Oh, so you did know about my surprise after all?"

"Huh?" Mira sat back up from her spot, but her friend had already ducked into the closet and grabbed the bagged item she'd stored there since yesterday. While most of the bag was clearly occupied by a large square object, she also pulled out a sheaf of paper and threw it onto the other bed.

It only took a moment of examination to realise what the paper was for. "This is...?"

"All my digital notes in paper form", Aiko confirmed, not looking back as she fiddled with the main item in the bag. "Takao-sensei said I couldn't show you my assignments, but I _can_ give you my notes. I hope they're not too jumbled- my handwriting's kind of messy."

"No, no, not at all! Thank you for... you bought a TV?!"

The square object was small for a television, but it flared out at the front to become a larger screen. "Uh-huh! Got it yesterday at a used electronics store in the mall for cheap. And before you ask, I checked in with the head of our dorm to make sure. We're allowed to have it on until 10pm at night so long as the volume doesn't bother anyone, and I noticed that a bunch of other rooms got one too. Think of it as your welcome back present... Senpai."

Casting a brief glance at Pelagio to confirm what she was seeing was real, Mira chuckled in disbelief, eyes snapping back to her notes. "No. I just..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"I mean... It doesn't really feel right for _you_ to call me Senpai. Not after what happened this week. I'm not native, so I may be getting this wrong, but a 'Senpai' is a respected older student who looks out for their younger Kouhai, right?"

Finishing the awkward task of connecting the cable to an outlet behind the short counter in front of her bed, Aiko turned and nodded, a bit inwardly proud that she had only banged her head once while installing it. "Pretty much, yeah."

Brown eyes met green, and she could see the true depth of the appreciation there. "If anything, after this week, you're _my_ Senpai. You did more for me- more for _us_ \- than anyone else ever did, and you didn't even have to do it."

Aiko smiled back at her weakly, remembering all the times when she'd been tempted to just give up, to run back to the dorm and declare that Faraway Lands was beyond her ability to handle. Even now, it was hard to believe they'd pulled it off. "But you _are_ one year older than me, Mira."

Mirambela stretched, smiling back. "I know. But we're in the same classes. So, let's make this an equal partnership, okay? You can call me Mira-chan. And I..."

Dropping her notes for a moment, she hunched back over her bed, lying flat to get closer, so that Aiko could fully see the appreciation shining in her wide eyes. It seemed completely impossible to her that this was the same defeated, miserable person whom she had first been given as a roommate, the hollow girl who had told her to stay away from her and mock her to be popular with others.

That was something that Aiko had noticed very recently; when Mirambela Sorano was sad, she was _very_ sad, and it took a lot of effort, possibly even violence committed on evil shadow creatures from another dimension, to pull her out of it.

When she was legitimately happy and smiling, which hadn't been properly witnessed until she returned from the other world? The sun paled in comparison.

"To me... you're Ai-chan."

* * *

4/22 Monday

Evening

Ideka Ishinagi thumbed the button on his cell and returned his disaffected gaze to a stale box of bento. _I believe that makes ten now._

Not the bento, of course. He'd eaten more of those in his many years of life than he'd care to admit, a childhood favourite snack that still held its own in his estimation when eating alone. No one would be there to stare at the simple selection of items and cheap cardboard container and tell him that he should be eating something 'classier'.

No one would be there at all. Ten times since attaining his position at Koashimizu academy he'd reached out to women his own age or close enough, and ten times he'd been cast away.

Oh, they would occasionally give him hope. They would go on passing dates, watch some movie, chat with each other about their respective pasts... but the limit was usually five such interactions before the polite ones told him that he should reach out to someone better suited to him and the rude ones would stand him up and stop answering his calls. Ruriyaka Tanetari apparently fit into the latter category, which after several talks with her he didn't find so much of a shock that it would completely ruin his night.

He supposed that was the problem, mulling it over a tough bit of chicken washed down with cold juice. The education needed to earn his Masters in psychiatry had molded his own mind into a state where it was instinctively inquiring and interpreting meaning from everything a prospective partner said or did. Most of the time, his conclusions were not well-received. Even if he chose not to reveal them, eventually he would mistakenly do something that showed what he really thought of them.

Tanetari, for example, unconsciously broadcast to him a deep-seated need to feel protected from the world. Though not exactly giving the signs that she merely dated looking for someone with money, he'd also born witness in his career to a number of adult males who broadcast that exact aura she desired, even if that required lying to themselves and others.

He didn't want to do that. To lie to her just to draw her closer. Other men did that, their consciences seemingly clear.

 _They don't like seeing the truth about themselves,_ he considered pensively. _Few do. There are things in my life I don't wish to dwell on either, such as the reason I continue to work as mere guidance counsellor at Koashimizu even while possessing a Masters degree._

There was a student he knew who encountered similar difficulties- Shukiji Niyoga- but he didn't seem to mind the fact that his bluntness and overbearing intellectualism quickly severed any interest members of the opposite sex had in him.

While Ishinagi had noticed that new transfer student, Aiko Tsuruga, gradually cozying up to him as she seemingly had a tendency to do, based on what the two of them had presented so far he considered it a matter of time before she gave up and moved on to more conventional friendships. The two were not compatible personality-wise or interest-wise.

Ishinagi smiled sadly to himself. It was none of his business, really. Mr. Niyoga still had time to make decisions. He didn't. _I do not deny my loneliness to myself or others. I only desire someone I can enjoy the company of. Someone that I could trust with my secrets. That is a completely natural, emotionally healthy desire._

The other, much simpler explanation was that he never did anything to hide his age. The gray streaks running across the gloss of his hair like a tiger's stripes coupled with a darker than normal skin tone suggested the higher end of middle adulthood, and he considered it a falsehood in itself to try and pretend he was any younger.

Watching TV in his apartment these days did nothing to alleviate the sense of unease that gripped him in times like this. The sense that no one out there was even slightly compatible with his requirements, his desires. That the majority only desired their solitude and nothing else, or were too enraptured in the pursuit of some illogical task they'd been convinced would put an end to whatever misery plagued them.

 _No more of that_ , he resigned himself sternly as he finished the box. _I can still remember the tools of conversation I used when I was going to University. I can certainly pretend not to notice the various tells, or try to intrude where I am not wanted. If that is the mask I must present to someone, then-_

A fast, insistent rapping on the door cut into his planning. Wondering if Tanetari was merely late and characteristically failed to warn him, he headed to the door only to find a younger woman waiting for him there.

Cecille Yumika looked exactly as foreboding and dignified as he remembered her from the incident four years ago, her crystal earrings jangling as they reflected the dim golden light of his room, and her eyes squared and glassy among loose stringy hair. Ishinagi knew much of that appearance to be a mask hiding an agonizing pain from years past that she had needed to forge in order to be able to work as a teacher, as well as the fact that tugging at that mask would be a fatal mistake.

Taking no note of his own surprise, her gaze pierced into his. "We need to talk. And you can't say anything about it to my brother."

Finding himself again, Ishinagi regarded her like a bomb had come to his door. "Is this about Sanaki? Have you found him?"

That wasn't exactly what he'd planned for tonight, but he didn't need a degree to know that knowing that Natsuro Sanaki was dead or in jail would lift an invisible burden from his shoulders.

But Cecille disappointed him there. "No. Not yet. I think... I may have found some of his heirs. They don't even know."

 _A bomb it is then, in function if not reality._

"You'd better come inside", he advised quietly. "Start from the beginning."

* * *

A/N: Back in the saddle, hopefully for a while now. Got some things happening on the side that might interfere with a regular update schedule, but que sera sera.


	13. The Swordmaster

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/22 Monday

Evening

Despite Mirambela's earlier affections, the next few hours spent in room 22 were surprisingly quiet. Mira dove into her catch up homework with a renewed vigour, and Aiko began flipping through the limited selection of channels their new prize could reach, neither one of them speaking much.

"There we go", she announced at last, bringing up a local news channel, careful to keep the volume low enough so that only they would be able to hear it. "And just in time too, it looks like."

The newscaster was a bright-eyed young woman with frizzled, auburn hair. Aiko wondered silently if she was a native, since there had been growing political pressure and business laws in the last few years for companies to hire predominantly native-born people, but more important was the story at hand.

"In other news tonight", she announced in a layered professional calm. "The urban vigilante known as Hex has made a surprising comeback in Tosashimizu city. Though reports of various similar sightings in Tokyo had led speculators to believe that the mysterious attacker had changed locales, police have now found evidence of several delinquents being attacked last night. Their description of the attacker matches that of the one who first appeared in Tosashimizu several years ago."

Focused on her work, Mira regarded the broadcast with fractional attention. "Hex?"

"Yeah", Aiko said. "This is the first time I've heard of them, but apparently they made a stir about this a few years back, before I moved out here. This city was where Hex was first spotted."

Obligingly, the inlet changed to show a pencil sketch of the subject's mask based on victim descriptions. It was a black, bulb-shaped affair with the most dominant feature being the massive X brand covering it, looking like a pair of thin girders intersecting in the center.

"While many have theorised Hex to be a spiritual successor to a previous outlaw group, the Phantom Thieves, Hex's methods appear to be far more crude than that of the social reform-seekers whose wild popularity swept the city of Tokyo six years prior. No trace has been found of calling cards or anything declaring Hex's intent or goals. The only evidence found was accounts from the victims describing a 'sinister' voice insulting them and threatening their lives after assaulting them."

"Well I did like the Phantom Thieves", Aiko commented. "Who didn't? They were _awesome,_ getting all those bad guys to confess their crimes. I was really young back then, but they were all over the news for like a year, right? But this one's just going out and beating up criminals. Hardly the same thing."

"Even _I_ know about the Thieves", Mira agreed. "You can still buy their merchandise on sale in Shibuya. They never did find out how exactly they were making criminals confess, did they?"

"Nope!", Aiko said cheerfully, eyes nearly shut. Honestly, she rather liked it that way, the mystery of the Thieves' accomplishments leaving space for all sorts of crazy theories. If the truth ever did come out that the Thieves actually had secured their miraculous confessions by kidnapping and torture as some had theorised, she would be extremely disappointed.

If this 'Hex' really was inspired by the Thieves, they weren't doing a very good job of honouring their memory. Back on the TV, they were having an interview with a cop who was just repeating the usual regulations about the need to capture illegal vigilantes, no matter what part of the country they struck in next.

"Only time will tell if Hex's goals are more than they appear, or if they will be apprehended. Next on news tonight..."

"Not exactly an inspired name choice either", Aiko said. "Black clothes, black mask with a big X on it, so they call them Hex?"

"They never dropped a name to the criminals that they attacked", Pelagio pointed out, speaking up for the first time in a while. "Never seeking credit for their deeds. Hmph. How noble of them."

Mira looked up from her pile of schoolwork. For all Pelagio had done for them and how dignified he normally sounded, occasionally he would say something that reminded them both how little of the human world he had actually experienced.

"Because if they did, the cops would arrest them. They tried for a whole year to catch the Phantom Thieves, Hex won't be any different."

The falcon sighed. "How sad, that a group dedicated to bringing order would expend so much effort in eliminating those who share their goals, merely so they may be the nation's sole defenders."

"That's not... quite accurate", Aiko protested, but the news was moving on to less interesting topics so she dropped it.

 _RH: heard she was back, is that true?_

 _AT: Yep =DDDD_

 _RH: tfg 3o thought she'd end up like Ayano. What happened to her?_

 _MT: I ran away. Sorry to have worried everyone._

Aiko blinked in surprise and checked her friend's bed. She hadn't expected Mira to join in when she had work to do, but she was grateful to have someone else provide the excuse in lieu of the unbelievable truth of what had happened.

 _RH: =O u ran away for a week? u need to talk with some1._

 _MS: I am. Ishinagi-sensei._

 _RH: Booo._

 _AT: Be nice. He's not that bad._

 _RH: 3 days detention cause Kujou bitched -_-+_

 _AT: Mattora would have given me 3 weeks. It was fine. I met some people._

 _RH: damn you're good, shrugging off shit like that._

 _AT: BTW, while I was there I got handed a number to some kind of Kujou protection group. Think I should reply?_

"Really?" That came from Mira, who was declining to speak up too much in the land of texts, only monitoring the chat between her friends.

"Yep. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a scam before I replied. I wonder what-"

 _RH: Never heard of them. Good thing is, she's letting up on everything except the rumours for now. If she gets serious again, I say go for it._

 _AT: K. I'll keep an eye on Mira-chan too. Later._

 _RH: laters._

Mira laughed lightly at that. "I am right here, you know."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to assure Hayato-senpai that you're alright." Closing the message, she muted the TV and stood up, suddenly intent on her roommate's face. "You _are_ alright, aren't you?"

Mira dropped her pen and lay back in the bed, tapping against her lips as if considering the notion.

"Well. Let me think. I just spent a week living as a princess in a creepy dream world that came out of my own head, and I had to watch my best friend fight for her life against a living part of my own brain. Then we had to fight off a giant sea monster, and _then_ the police questioned me for two days before ignoring absolutely everything that I told them and assuming I was crazy. So, I wouldn't say I'm 'alright', but I can definitely do schoolwork again. Takao-sensei is counting on me to come back."

Aiko faltered. Biting sarcasm didn't normally fit Mirambela. It wasn't the straight answer she wanted, but it would do. She would make sure of it. "Um... oh. Okay then. I mean, that Shadow..."

"-That Shadow was me", Mira cut her off, her cheekboned face far more taut and serious now."No excuses. She was me. That's the real truth of it, Ai-chan. I won't deny that I felt that way back then, like everyone who was mean to me should be given karma, and treated like... filth. _I_ thought those things, even if I couldn't say them out loud. That Shadow _was_ me, just as much as Oya is. Maybe... maybe that does make me a bad person... but I'll live on, and try to overcome it, and get better."

"Suppressed enmity", Pelagio offered Mira peaceably, a tone of condensation in his words towards her that Aiko frowned over. "From what I have seen, I would estimate that _all_ humans have at least one other human whom they secretly despise, and would wish to see dearly punished for their misdeeds, whether those deeds are real or imagined. At the very least, there are angry, grudging thoughts which they cannot act upon. I have beheld such cognitions myself in other Lands as well."

"Yeah. _Don't_ feel bad about it, Mira-chan. You're not a bad person. Even I have people I don't like that much. You just have to keep control of... waaait." The last of Pelagio's words finally caught up with her and she turned to him, eyes wide. "Wait, wait wait, wait... _Other Lands_? You mean _besides_ Furusato-san?"

"But of course. Miss Sorano and Miss Furusato are hardly the only visitors Faraway Lands has had. Though I was never able to meet the Land's rulers as we did here, the details of such a place are always distinctive next to an unused island or a reef."

Aiko fell back onto her bed, one palm pressed to her head as Mira's face echoed her distress. "Wow. This is even bigger than I imagined... how many? How many Lands did you visit?" _How many innocent people are trapped in there, unable to leave?_

The falcon's round eyes flickered in innocence. "It was a long journey, so I cannot be completely certain. I would hazard a guess at a dozen Lands, possibly more. I never stayed very long, due to the local Shadows' hostility."

Mira dropped her work again, staring in alarm. "But that's impossible! There's no way a dozen people all jumped into the waters in the Yume Bay at sunset. People would notice. They would at least put up a warning sign!"

"If they knew what was causing the disappearances", Aiko remembered, feeling as faint as her friend sounded. "But they _don't_. They'd just chalk it up to suicide." In fact, that was what she had originally believed Mira's intent on that horrible day on the shore had been- to drown herself in the Yume bay's waters and finally be freed of her anguish.

And perhaps it had been, until the malevolent voice of her own horrible Shadow reached out to her and drew her into the other world.

"Maybe", Mira conceded reluctantly, showing no sign of the horribly broken state of mind she'd been in back then. "But still, that many suicides in the same place?"

"If I may remind you both", Pelagio interrupted calmly, "that I cannot yet say precisely when Faraway Lands was first created. Ergo, such disappearances may have been spread out across many years in the past."

"So they could have been in there for _years_ ", Aiko realised, sitting in numb shock. Somehow, that actually seemed worse than what Mirambela had gone through. "Trapped all alone in their Lands, unable to leave..." She shivered.

"We won't be able to help them either", Mira noted glumly. "It's just like Pelagio said. All we could do is visit them, and even that would be dangerous with all the Shadows around."

"SIR Pelagio, if you please", the bird corrected her stonily. "But you are right in the rest. Their souls are trapped there forevermore. They cannot return."

"Because nobody was following them", Aiko shook her head. She would always remember that day. It had been as much of a trial for her as it had for Mira. Being sucked into the sea gate of green light. Meeting Pelagio, who had fished her from the dark water. Trying to grasp the rules of that strange dimension. Seeing Shadows. Seeing Shadows _hurting_ her, destroying her treasured possession, leaving only a fragment of the precious ruby behind, which she now kept with her always in her pocket, as her treasure.

Coming to grips with her destined death. The voice in her head. Unlocking her Persona for the first time, feeling Anne Bonny, that restricted part of her consciousness she'd forgotten existed flow through her awareness once more, and cleaving a Shadow into pieces with her cutlass. Defeating dozens of the creatures alongside Pelagio, and culminating with the defeat of Mira's Shadow.

"Even if someone followed them in... would they be able to access a Persona in time to save themselves?"

Pelagio tightened his wings, reminding her that they were many leagues into purely hypothetical territory now, talking about people who none of them knew.

"Hm. Perhaps. It is possible. If they were able to become fully honest about themselves, and willingly relinquish the barriers upon their consciousness before the Shadows consumed them."

His round eyes hardened. "However... while I don't wish to sound judgemental, in my own personal experience there are very few humans capable of doing so. Most humans willingly deceive themselves endlessly about all manner of things. You... and miss Sorano, I suppose now, are two of the rare exceptions to the rule."

"And so are you, sir Pelagio", Mira reminded him, one finger stroking a furrow along his darker chest feathers as though he were a pet. "Ai-chan told me about it. You didn't have a Persona when you first met, but when you really needed it, Galahad came to you, right?"

"Yes", he affirmed in a deliberately stiff voice, trying and failing to hide the comfort that simple repeated motion was bringing him. "Yes. I... suppose he did at that. I merely needed to accept the truths that I was concealing from myself. That I only professed devotion to my lady because it was the only thing I remembered about my life. That I was... _desperate_. I was desperate to find some kind of meaningful purpose for my life, and to learn why it was that I remembered her alone."

Aiko smiled at his reluctant pleasure. "We know. We're probably the only ones who can _say_ that we know what that feels like. The rush of it, casting away the lies... I don't mean to sound arrogant, but you're probably right, Pela-chan. Not everyone could do that in time, at least not when a Shadow's about to have them for lunch. Do you think it will be safe to bring Noel-kun along once we find Ayano-san's Land?"

Pelagio shook his small head. "Not 'safe'. None of us can be considered to be completely, perfectly 'safe' in that place, even with our Personas. Having the three of us along greatly increases his chance of coming back, certainly... but is such a risk truly worth it?" Sensing her confusion, he hopped a bit closer on his talons. "What is this Noel person truly like?"

Aiko leaned back, carefully marshalling her words. "He's... um... _nice_. He's the kindest boy I've seen at school so far. Pious, but not in an annoying kind of way, really. I guess it really depends on how he's taking all this. My guess is... not well."

 _Excellent,_ she congratulated herself inwardly. She'd managed to avoid calling him 'cute' despite the adjective coming to her lips four or more times during her sentence.

"We'll have to wait and see", Mira said. "Check on how he's reacting at school. If taking him there would just make it worse, then we won't. He's suffered enough."

"Yes", Pelagio agreed, satisfied by the plan. "For now, we shall wait and see."

* * *

4/23 Tuesday

After School

The room was motionless and silent. Nanseki Umaeda could have easily found another, smaller room to grade his assignments in, such as the classroom in which he taught math. This one was about the same size, but had only a single large desk and chair, the rest covered by comparatively softer mauve flooring, a pair of sliding white screens covering the large closet embedded in the opposite wall.

It had never ben clear to him whether the other teachers let him continue to use the vacant room out of respect or pity. Some, like principal Yumika, had been surprised to see him cling to a reminder of times long gone that would never come again. In truth, if anyone had told him to abandon the room he would have done so. No one ever did. The wide room formerly used by the school fencing club had been left to him, and him alone.

Until now.

He was nearly done grading tests when the door's noise intruded on his solitude. A boy and a girl stood there, the latter of whom he only took a second to remember.

"Miss Tsuruga", he said, shaking away the vocal cobwebs that built up in him when he went too long without talking. "Are you seeking to honour our earlier agreement?"

"I am." She stepped in with her friend and gave a formal bow. "Both of us are."

The brown haired half-caucasian boy with her was built like an athlete, but he made a clear effort to be as polite as she was, smiling wolf-like and extending a dexterous-looking hand. "Hey there, sensei. I'm Julian Rosea. I'd like to start fencing classes with my friend here."

Mr. Umaeda shook the hand as he looked around for any other students coming in. He smiled sadly.

"I _did_ say that four students are required to have a club, did I not?"

"You did", Aiko admitted, studying the cushioned floor. "But I didn't want to bring anyone along who would quit after we got started."

Umaeda made an impatient grunt. "You say that as though your friend won't leave once I agree to it. I _am_ familiar with the tricks of the trade, Miss Tsuruga. You kids discard and trade clubs as easily as clothing."

Julian Rosea, however, seemed to be just as determined as she had been in that detention class last week, shaking his head. "Like hell I'd do that. That's for people who gather up thousands of Facebook friends just so they can feel popular. More like Wastebook."

Seeing that he wasn't scoring a lot of points, he changed his tone. "Look, Umaeda-sensei... I'll be the first to admit I'm a real busy guy. Full-time classes, the soccer team, and now this... but I can take it. If you let us, I promise I'll stay on just as long as Tsuruga-chan does, maybe even longer."

Such enthusiasm. He thought such a thing had been permanently extracted from the collective minds of Japan's youth in this day and age. Aiko's words had not been forgotten either. He stroked the short white beard which had been his companion for nearly a decade.

"...Alright. If both of you are truly willing to learn, then I will teach you. _However!_ This is still a secondary concern to your normal classes." Regarding them both with stern eyes, he walked over to the panel closet. "I mean that. I will be monitoring _both_ of your grades myself, particularly your Midterm exams coming up soon. If I see _either_ of you drop below the school's grade point average, then this club will be closed once more until you can bring it back up."

He wasn't surprised to see Julian's face fall a bit at that ruling, but it only took a moment for him to rebound back into smarmy confidence. "We'll do it", Aiko promised. "I've been doing good in class so far, especially history."

"Then if you can spare the time, you might wish to aid your friend in his studies", Umaeda joked, facing the nervous boy. "Having two extracurricular clubs going on at once is no easy feat, Mr. Rosea. I suppose you would want me to schedule around the soccer team then?"

"Please", Julian affirmed, sounding desperate. "Coach Kurikado won't even listen if you try it the other way around. His team is way more important to the school."

"True", Umaeda shrugged. "I shouldn't be jealous. Naturally, the soccer team would take priority over a club that was believed to be dead and buried for years. I'll view the game and practice scheduling to ensure there is no overlap."

With that out of the way, he pushed down on the dusty knob protruding from the wall panel, sliding it aside with a great heaving sound like a great old oak tree being shifted.

Behind that half of the wall lay a selection of items that dazzled the two students. The thick blue floor mats were the largest and most obvious, but stationed around them were various felt-coated racks containing thick white cloth uniforms, round bulged masks of dark mesh, and most recognisably, foils of both wood and metal.

"Like brand new", Umaeda remarked in satisfaction as he withdrew the mats to place along the floor. "And yet, the school was unable to sell it off to anyone because the models were so outdated. So it all stayed here, locked away."

Aiko put on hand on a mesh mask carefully, afraid it might fall apart. "We'll take good care of it, Umaeda-sensei. You say it's school property, but it feels like it's yours."

The teacher chuckled softly. "It may as well be. No one else wants it. Go ahead, try them on."

That was far from his only moment of amusement that day. In his mind, it might have been worth re-opening the wall just to watch the two students try to figure out how to properly put the bulky fencing outfits on, though he tried not to laugh too much at their haphazard efforts. After about twenty minutes of confusion, he looked back to see them standing before him, their breeches and gloves and jackets all in the right place by the look of it, masks clutched beneath their shoulders ready for use.

"Ah, well done", Umaeda said. "Although, Mr. Rosea _may_ wish to change out of the women's fencing uniform before we begin practise."

Julian's reaction was even better. Once he'd gotten out of the outfit and put it back, he stared across the hidden compartments, trying to find a sign that the next suit he chose would be the right one. "Shit. How do you tell?"

Refusing to be offended by how casually the young man dropped curses, Umaeda gestured to Aiko's outfit. "The women's outfits have thicker protection- a plastic plate over the chest area. Don't let it bother you too much, Mr. Rosea- often an instructor will wear that variant due to how often they're hit."

Aiko blinked from beneath her mesh mask. "Wait, isn't it the opposite? Instructors shouldn't get hit by their students much."

"Because the instructors won't be attacking the students", he smirked. "Not until they're trained up to the right level anyway." Passing her the wooden mockup of a rapier, he began to pull out his own outfit, a matte black variation of the same outfit- the male type, despite his earlier words. "I won't be attacking back until I'm certain that you know the rules, miss Tsuruga."

There were certainly a number of rules to be known. Umaeda knew from hard experience that this was the part of fencing that turned off a lot of the less patient students who came in hoping that they would learn how to rain down powerful swordstrikes just like their favourite anime hero or heroine.

But those types of students would be seriously disappointed. Fencing _wasn't_ that kind of swordfighting. It had dozens of formal rules to prevent serious injuries, and the only strikes that truly counted were the ones against certain parts of the body, depending on which variant was being used. He decided to start them off with the foil variant, trying to impress upon them these truths early, since with foil the only hits that counted were torso strikes. Anything else earned a penalty in a competitive setting.

As promised, he did not strike back at all when the session began. He cleanly blocked each strike, spending less attention on defence and more on spotting the usual flaws in their respective stances. Just like over half the boys his age, Julian put far too much energy into his arms instead of his legs, shouting and swinging his tiny wood rapier around like it was a broadsword.

Aiko was no better. Not as recklessly aggressive as her friend, but her arm muscles were infernally convinced that she could get better range by tilting her foil at an angle when the exact opposite was true. "I can't see it when it's like that!", she complained, though her words showed no signs of giving up. "I might..."

"They're wooden rapiers", Umaeda reminded her calmly, actually drilling his left palm with his weapon to demonstrate and watching it bend. "It's impossible to pierce anything with them. Watch the hilt, miss Tsuruga. By knowing the precise length of your weapon, you automatically know where the tip is by relation. In this case, your weapons are exactly 105 centimeters long. Epees are 5 centimeters longer than that, but we only have the metal ones."

The next time he was able to look up at the clock he realized that nearly two hours had flown by. "That's enough for now then. Both of you, focus on you stances and movement for next time. On Saturday, we'll go through the classifications of attacks and how to perform them."

Masks hiding their sweat, both of them looked extremely thankful to have a break. They were cloth, but the uniforms became heavy over time, and the metal rapiers were naturally heavier than the wooden ones. Now more than ever, he hoped that Mr. Rosea could back his claims that he could handle both fencing and the soccer team without completely exhausting himself.

Still, he couldn't deny that this was the most energetic that he had felt in many years. He didn't mind teaching math. It passed the time and got him the paycheck he needed to live independently. Fencing, however, would always be his true passion. Passing that passion on to others, even just two young ones who viewed it as a mere hobby, was what he lived for.

What was it that his old master, a man dead for nearly fifty years, had told him? 'From humble beginnings, greatness can arise'?

Their fencing outfits carefully removed and placed back in the storage compartment, his two new students then shared a formal, hand-clasped bow as well as grateful words, as though he were a respected martial arts master instead of a used-up old teacher who had made the mistake of choosing an unpopular athletics field to specialise in.

" _Thank you very much for teaching us, Umaeda-sensei."_

The wavering way that Julian said it suggested that it was something they had rehearsed beforehand so they could say it together, but he didn't care. He took off his own mask, so they could see his weathered smile.

"No, miss Tsuruga and Mr. Rosea. Thank you to you both, for breathing life back into this room."

 _And into me._

* * *

4/24 Wednesday

Lunch

 _RH: hey, how's Mira?_

 _At: Fine. I introduced her to Samesaji-san and a few others yesterday._

 _RH: sure, now that she almost DIES they're interested. F'ing leeches. -_-_

 _AT: She's still busy catching up on homework now. I want to do something big with her on Sunday, kind of a welcome home party._

 _AT: Ideas?_

 _RH: huh._

 _RH: there's a water park north of Tosashimizu you can bus to._

 _JR: sounds kewl :P_

 _RH: who's this?_

 _AT: This is Rosea-kun. The one I told you about._

 _RH: You mean Jiachi? Jiachi Rosea?_

 _JR: plz don't call me that :/_

 _RH: sry, didn't figure him as the type._

 _AT: The type for what? He helped me restart the fencing club._

 _RH: srs? Nice._

 _JR: thx, was fun_

 _AT: Want to join?_

 _RH: Sry, 2 busy. Midterms coming up._

 _JR: nooooo DDDD:_

Aiko left the chat then, her eyes diverted by another familiar face. Things had begun to progress to the point that deciding exactly who spend time with on a particular day could be a hassle in itself, but she reminded herself that this was what she had _wanted_. To have friends. To make Koashimizu academy into a home for her and all who were willing to help her.

This one, though, was one she'd been waiting for, never knowing if the result would be sad or reassuring. Noel was ambling through the river of students, heading out of the lunchroom towards a restroom. When he left, she was there waiting for him- for once, she didn't care about being considered 'creepy'.

"Noel-kun. I heard the news. I can't imagine-"

The boy's body said more than his words. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, ashen skin and bagged eyes barely dragging himself along through sheer will. Likewise, his speech was low and short and drained of its usual cheer.

"Appreciated, Tsuruga-san. Really."

"They never found the cause?"

His eyes nearly fell shut. "No. They didn't. Useless, the lot of them. Said it was suicide."

 _Pretty much what we figured,_ she mused. Her body ached to tell him the full truth, but in his current state it was impossible to tell how that would go over.

"I'm sure it nothing to do with you. I asked around while you were gone. You were right. Everyone knew you two were together. If anyone gives you trouble-"

But it seemed this, too, had had an unwanted effect. He spun to face the wall, hiding the way his jaw was grinding against the rest of him as he clutched his head. "No. No. I didn't. I never, I never... please... please stop, Tsuruga-san. I... I can't do this right now. Forgive me."

"...Alright. But I'm here if you-"

He wheeled back around, and this time she could see how his eyes were affected as well. She'd expected tears. Tears would have made them more inviting than this blank, numbing stare directed at everyone and no one.

'Don't. That's the problem, you see. You're here, but there's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do, now. _Gott hilf mir._ "

She could find the strength to say nothing else until he was gone.

"It wasn't you", she whispered to no one at all. "If there's one thing I know, it wasn't you."

 _And maybe, just maybe, we might be able to learn who it_ was _._

* * *

o


	14. Beneath the Mask

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/24 Wednesday

After School

Scanning the trees had come to be a habit now, and so she was able to spot Pelagio from a distance, before he felt the need to call to her in words that the rest of the world would hear only as meaningless bird noises. Nodding, she followed him down to the shore that was now completely sedate.

"You've been quite busy, I see."

"I've been working", she replied as he took a new perch on a rock. "I told you before about what I want to do. Make Koashimizu academy a home. Explore Faraway Lands, and learn its secrets. I'd be an idiot to expect either of those things to happen without lots of hard work."

His wings tightened at the mention of 'hard work'. "Hmph. I must admit, it has been quite a trial, learning to restrain myself from interfering. But you must live your own life as you wish to. I know that now."

"Good." What Pelagio didn't seem to get is that the memory of her yelling at him about that wasn't any more pleasant for her than it was him. It was better for them both to put it aside, now that he completely understood that she wasn't some princess to be coddled and protected from the world. "What about you? What've you been doing lately, Pela-tori?"

The falcon's eyes narrowed in surprise, peering out across the calm water. "What have I...? I have nothing of interest to report, my lady. I have continued to scour this coastline for any hint of someone else using the beach cave, as well as the chance that anyone might wander into the Yume Bay at sunset. Many couples use it, but rarely that late at night. No incidents thus far."

"That's fine", she acknowledged. "But I wasn't asking about your patrols, Pela-tori. I was asking about _you_. You don't have to work all the time, you know?"

He seemed shocked by the very idea. "I... I must admit, I had not considered that."

She smiled back, stretching out on the sands. "Come on. You don't even have to go to school like we do. At least _try_ to have a little fun when you're not watching the gate. For my sake? I'll feel better if I know you're out enjoying yourself while I'm stuck in class."

The uncertainty showed in his posture, taking several seconds to settle down again into his traditional aloofness. "I shall... try. I must confess to a lack of experience with this mission, my lady. Where would you suggest that I travel to have 'fun'?"

She reached over and stroked his chest feathers, knowing how much he liked that sensation. "Okay, first off? It's not a 'mission'. I just want you to tryand have some fun and learn more about humans. You were in Faraway Lands until now, right? Go check out Tosashimizu city. There's some fun stuff over there. Besides..."

Remembering Mr. Ishinagi's words to her, she lowered her voice. "Besides... if you keep hanging around Koashimizu academy all the time, people are going to notice. Ishinagi-sensei even talked about calling animal control to catch you if you attacked another student. You wouldn't like that."

"Hmph. As though a human could ever capture me", he scoffed. "But you are correct, of course. I have limited myself in remaining at your school, acting as your protector. There is much of the human world which I don't yet understand. Perhaps this 'fun' you speak of shall remedy that."

"Try it", she encouraged him. "I know _I_ enjoy it. It's just too bad you can't play video games. And you'd look a little weird using a cell phone."

Pelagio rose to spread his wings, but did not depart yet. "Actually, my lady... perhaps there is one thing I would wish to do before I begin to search the rest of your world for 'fun'."

"Name it."

For the first time, he seemed more than merely uncertain or confused. It was impossible to perfectly read these human expressions on the stern, beaked face of a bird, but she would have sworn he sounded... nervous?

"If you are not against it, I would very much like to... perch upon your arm."

Her first instinct was to get excited- this was fulfilling more than one person's dream- but it was tempered by the memory of what those talons had done to the flesh of Kujou and Byzael. "Are you sure it's safe."

Round eyes stared back. "You know that I would never risk harming you, my lady. I have been practising for days on tree branches, making sure I would not leave any marks in them. I believe it is safe. If it does begin to hurt, please tell me and I shall release at once."

Understanding, she extended her left arm. "...Okay. Go for it. I trust you."

Once again, his happiness could not be seen on that fierce face. It could only be felt as he flapped over to that arm. Aiko took a breath, expecting to feel pain as the talons dug into her flesh.

The pain never came. There was a sense of high pressure in two spots, a heavy, clutching weight that might have put her arm to sleep over time. As she opened her eyes and raised her arm, she saw Pelagio was easily clinging to it, his round eyes wide and scanning the horizon as though it were completely normal, as though he were perched on one of his usual rocks or trees.

"I cannot always guard you", he spoke quietly. "The human world has much that I should witness for myself, in order to understand them- and you- better. But I will always remain your sworn protector, Aiko Tsuruga."

"More than that", she said, only able to imagine how this would have looked to an outside observer. "You're my friend, Pela-tori."

* * *

4/25 Thursday

Lunch

She couldn't remember exactly when she had become fond of looking into mirrors. Whether it was the small round one in the dorm's restroom, or the large, ill-maintained ones in the main school building's rooms, eyes that had only used them reluctantly before now took a moment after each 'session' to stare into their reflection.

She eventually came to realise that they were searching for changes. Subtle, but welcome changes that only she would be able to gage. Few others knew what she'd experienced last week. Few others would even believe it.

"Anne Bonny", she whispered into the cloudy restroom mirror. Of course the Persona didn't appear. She had discovered early on that Personas could not be used in the real world. She was merely bringing the memories and feelings associated with that, her first and most precious Persona, to the forefront for consideration.

 _A vicious pirate,_ Bartholomew's stinging words came back to her. _One who pillaged and murdered as she wished, only caring about herself._

 _I don't murder. I don't pillage. I care for many others beside myself._

 _Strength. Defiance. That is what we share. If our cause is a just one, then there is nothing which we would not do to see it fulfilled. If rules must be bent or broken, then we will do it gladly. The alternative is yielding to injustice, which we cannot do. It is not within us._

 _We are the pillagers of dawn._

"Hello, skank."

Aiko didn't need to turn around to see, didn't need the mirror to know who was addressing her. Only one person would call her that.

"Hello... Kujou-san."

Benihime Kujou regarded the mirror, though her face gave no sign of needing any attending to. As ever, she was a distorted reflection, an older, far more beautiful, raven-haired Aiko.

There were a few other important differences as well.

"Are you thanking God in here? You should be, after the _gaijin_ came back. You were the last one to see her, you know. People started to talk."

She said nothing in return. Tiny green eyes bored into the mirror as if trying to spot an invisible creature living in it.

"Now everyone's too scared to remind her, but that should pass in a few weeks. I just thought I'd take a moment to remind _you_."

Aiko remained silent.

"And now you're cozying up to Vitienne-san too? You really are a skank. A gaijin-loving skank. A warning from your Senpai, though; he'll make you regret it. Get too close, and you'll end up just like poor Furusato-san."

Then there was a heavy, unrelenting pressure on the older girl's arm, the one which had not been injured. Looking down, she saw Aiko's sword arm gripped around it, keeping it adhered to the cheap counter top.

Aiko could already hear the whispers of what would come if she pushed it any further. _Detention. More detention. Suspension. Expulsion. Her majesty will do whatever it takes to apprehend me, and have me executed. And my crew._

"You are my Senpai", she said in a voice coated with artificial sweetness, thin lips twisted into a bitter smile. "But I'm afraid that after living with you for three weeks, I can't completely believe in your advice any more. Though I do appreciate the gesture, I have _other_ Senpai that I trust more."

She let go. The words Aiko had imagined were already on Kujou's lips, but she was still in shock from just how strong that grip had been. Apparently, periodically working out in the gym while also fencing and learning to operate a fishing ship's heavy ropes was good for the arm muscles after alll. Or perhaps the shock of it was simply too much for her to put up any resistance.

Either way, those arms now rose up from the sink, sliding into an innocent shrug contrasting with an aggressive smile on her lips. "I _will_ be careful where I tread around Noel-kun. He has suffered so much, after all."

"Yes", Kujou bit out, staring back in a mixture of equal parts alarm and hatred. "You do that."

* * *

4/25 Thursday

After School

She stared down into the coast water, as if trying to discern an answer from it. No such thing seemed forthcoming.

"Fishing?", she asked the mottled reflection.

"Fishing", Tongwa Byzael echoed beside her. "Not everywhere in the world has a supermarket. There have been times when I was struck out there, days away from civilization and nothing but a fishing rod, bait, and a rumbly stomach. Even the best sailor can't operate without food."

She had to admit it made sense. It just seemed so... idle. The sense that she was wasting her time with it had crept in and never let go.

Sensing her wavering, Byzael took a closer seat on the edge of the cluster of rocks they'd chosen for this test. "Fishing, miss Tsuruga, develops patience and calms the mind. I know that rod isn't terribly heavy, but holding it upright for long periods helps develops arm muscle- you remember, that thing you lamented as being 'pathetic' a week ago?"

"I did", came the forced, embarrassed admission. "I've... been trying to fix that."

"Admirable. But it takes more than a few sessions to build muscle, and such things normally use up energy. Fishing, once you've gotten it down, can skate that line between rest and awareness."

If as demonstrating, he cast his own fishing rod forward, hitting the surface with a satisfying plop. "Not so long ago", he remarked as he knelt down into a relaxed, seated position, "a boy about your age in a small country town broke records by catching the legendary guardian of the Samegawa river. Can you imagine his excitement?"

"...No", she said after a long pause. "I'm not him. I guess he must have been pretty excited at the time, but... what the chances of us catching anything like that here?"

Byzael chuckled politely. "Slim. Quite slim. But, isn't the chance a virtue in itself? There's still things in the depths of the sea that humans have yet to understand, or even dream of."

 _You have NO idea_ , she thought.

Despite her quibbles, she had to admit it was nice to take this time to relax. No schoolwork, no crowds, and no one else to intrude; Byzael knew when to be quiet.

Most importantly, no Shadows. After over a week spent in constant worry for Mirambela, it felt like her body was only now beginning to revert to a less adrenaline-fuelled state. To be able to just lie back and rest completely outside of her dorm room had become a kind of privilege in itself, no matter how much stray thoughts- stray worries- tried to disrupt that tranquility.

"We reach out to people", she said once the silence had finally grown too much to tolerate. "Now we spend our whole lives connected on our phones, and most of the time people never really listen to any of it."

"Now you sound like me", he joked. "At least, that's what I tell myself. But the truth is, maybe I just got too used to being alone out there. Whenever I go into Tosashimizu city, I'd start to get anxious. Antsy. Too many people, too much chaos, too much _noise_... Not sure if I'd ever be able to handle going to Shibuya." He sighed out at the calm waters. "Not sure if you noticed, but I'm well on track to becoming a grouchy old man."

"Only 'on track'?"

She got exactly what she expected out of that jest- an energetic headlock and a warm rub on the noggin. "Hey, easy there, kiddo. I'm only 47."

She never would have been able to tell that by looking at him, she knew. He seemed to be in that intervening period where the body would stop physically aging for ten or so years in preparation for a descent into seniority. He had some gray hairs here and there, but not a huge amount.

"Besides", he went on, still half-joking. "You should be nice to me when I have a present for you."

Her ears perked up, though his tone gave a good chance that the present was in jest as well. "Really? Where is it?"

He jerked a thumb back over the rocks towards the sandy part of the shore. "On the Fiddler's Green. You can see it after-"

His voice gave way to make room for the distinctive noise of Aiko's fishing rod being pulled at- he had specifically made the winch extra noisy to wake up a fisher who was half-asleep. "Pull! Now!"

She did. The crank for pulling the line up was equally noisy, but in a good way. The faster she spun it, the faster the crackling noise went, until the line burst out of the surface with something alive and writhing hanging off it.

Hauling the mauve-coloured fish up onto the rocks made it clear how small it was, making its energy seem remarkable to her. "A Basa catfish", Byzael recognized its 'whiskers' as his hands stifled the thing's motion. "Small one, but it should be safe to cook. Well done, kiddo."

"Thanks", she mumbled, suddenly breathless. Why? It wasn't like it had been terribly exhausting, hauling up that fish. _What did you expect, a multi-foot salmon fresh for eating? Did you expect to haul up the Samegawa Guardian on the first try?_

"Want any pointers for it?"

She smiled shyly back. Suddenly it felt like she was dealing with a human Pelagio. "Thank you, but there's no need, captan Byzael. I learned how to prepare fish meals a long time ago. Everybody loves sushi, right? And this city's even more focused on seafood than most."

He looked disproportionately proud of her. "Then let's go see your present."

The Fiddler's Green looked mostly the same as she remembered, but Byzael had patched a few broken boards towards the top, as well as repainting several sections in need of it. The interior felt cleaner too, all the junk she'd seen on the center table last time cleared off it. All except for two pieces of paper.

"I know what you were probably thinking, kiddo", Byzael was speaking from behind her as she went over the two bland-looking documents, processing what exactly they were.

"You probably thought it was all a joke. That I was just stringing you along. That I just wanted someone else to talk to... or else, I was the kind of man who ahem, 'enjoyed' the company of young girls. Right?"

She knew she looked as guilty as she felt. Those exact thoughts had actually passed through her mind more than once, though her suspicions had gradually faded as they spent more time together and he never leered or gave any indication. If he really was a pervert, she thought she would have noticed by now. He hadn't done anything in that direction. Not even once.

"I... suspected some of those things, yes. When we first met. After that guy at the high school six years ago... Kumoshedo, was it? You can't blame me for being cautious about it, captain."

His weathered face darkened until his stubble glowed, but she knew that it was rage meant not for her, but for the criminal that she had spoken of. "Well, here's your proof that I'm on the level. I got the legal documents all set up, no matter how much of a pain in the ass it was to arrange everything. Go ahead and read it over."

Though she trusted him now, Aiko did make sure to read as much of the documents as she could stand to. Like the school code, a lot of it was incomprehensible terminology that only lawyers could decipher, but the gist of it was clear. "Written proof of captain Tongwa Byzael relinquishing ownership of the fishing ship 'Fiddler's Green' to one miss Aiko Tsururga as soon as she is old enough to legally own a boat", he provided. "It's all there, except for the signature. The other document is you acknowledging that responsibility for the ship is passing into your hands. You can sign that right now if you want to."

A quick once-over of the text confirmed that he spoke the truth. Whatever doubts she still held towards this man's sincerity were erased when she finished reading. She kept touching the paper, confirming its reality. _This is really it. The real thing. Ownership permit and license to sail, becoming valid as soon as I turn eighteen... Incredible._

"Still missing my signature, of course", Byzael reminded her of the blank spots at the bottom of the first document. "That happens once I _know_ you're ready to handle it. Until then, I'll keep them here. I just wanted you to see."

She became aware that she was now hunched over the table with the documents before her energy spiked. A noise escaped from her that she was grateful no one was recording, and then she found herself with arms wrapped around the big man's body. "Thank you. Thank you so very much, captain."

His surprised gasp woke her up to the fact of just how much strength she had been unconsciously putting into that hold. "Heh... I keep my word, kiddo. So long as you keep yours, I'll hold to my end of our contract. And I don't blame you for being suspicious. I wouldn't make that offer to just anyone who wandered along."

 _Then why me?_ The worried thought came forward before she could banish it. _Why choose me? Was it just because I expressed an interest? Or...?_

It could wait, she told herself. They would have other sessions together after this one. During one of those, she would surely find the courage to ask him why he seemed intent on becoming the adult she trusted more than any other.

Maybe someday, she might feel safe sharing with him her greatest secret.

In the meantime, he was reaching into a pocket on his old jacket and something else out.

"D'you read much?"

That's what that glossy covered object he had was. An unlabelled book. "Textbooks, mostly. I haven't had time to take much out of the library or go to a bookstore in Tosashimizu."

The book was thin, she saw, but the words were small and faded in some places. Inside the cover, she saw the title and date- _A Farewell to Arms, 1929._ "Consider this one a freebie, then. And a part of our arrangement."

 _Two presents_ , she noted in satisfaction. Her mother did that too, wrapping up multiple smaller gifts into one for her birthday. It was one of the only things related to her that Kogaya ever put much thought into.

"It's my favourite book", Byzael confessed, gesturing to the small wall shelf where he kept a dozen others similarly bound. "Wouldn't mind having someone else to discuss it with. 'Fraid I don't keep any manga around here though."

That came as no surprise at all. Aiko loved manga, but expecting Byzael to share that interest felt like expecting a senior citizen to enjoy texting and selfies.

"Thanks again. I'll read it when have time."

It was late when she finally left behind the boat that was starting to feel more and more like a tiny slice of home. Seeing the sky, she ran for the Yume Bay out of a variety of small, trivial reasons that came to her as she went. _I want to clock how much time it takes me to get there in case we ever had to rush. I want to check up on it in case Pela-chan couldn't get back in time_

 _I want to see it open._

She felt like she was there on time. The sun was still descending into the ocean, about a third of its blazing circle still poking above the horizon. As expected, after a few minutes, the last of the day's light spread across the water in a cone pointed towards the beach, as though it were forming a road.

That was all it was, though. The light did not twist in the wind this time, or form into a standing rectangle of sickly green. No one except her was there to see it, or imagine what it must have looked like a month ago when Ayano Furusato had heeded the wind's dark whispering in her ears and, like Mirambela Sorano, had willingly walked into that gate that only a few knew existed.

 _Why did you do it?_ , she thought helplessly at the endless expanse. _Noel-kun loved you. Your parents loved you. You had other friends at school too who liked you. Why?_

The sea breeze held no answers for her. The only person who knew the real reason was no longer in this world.

But they would find her one day, and learn the answer all the same.

* * *

4/25 Thursday

Evening

The temporary dwelling in Tosashimizu's residential area was exactly as sparse as its purpose implied. Officer Makoto Nijima was used to just spartan quarters by now after years in University, though the occasional flash of longing for the simple comforts of her sister's place remained inevitable.

In this case however, she felt like she hardly even saw the bare walls of the room or the tall windows opening into a semi-decent view of the coast. She came back to herself only to realise that she was still wearing her uniform, and quickly made to replace it with a muted dress jacket not unlike the kind that Sae often wore. With that accomplished, she resigned herself to the dinner table and stared out across the dark horizon as if expecting it to leap forward and devour the city, people and all.

"Mirambela Sorano", she muttered to the strangely thick air. "Could you be lying?"

Her colleagues certainly thought so. Of course they would think that. The majority of them had been on the force long enough to dismiss any situation or explanation that didn't fit into their viewpoint as mere fantasy. Particularly when the story came from a female high-school exchange student.

But perhaps she was being too harsh. If she hadn't experienced the things she had six years ago, if she'd lived an ordinary life and never heard one word about the Phantom Thieves, then the possibility existed that she might have dismissed the Sorano girl's story just as easily, a mere excuse for someone who couldn't take responsibility for their own actions.

An amused snort followed that notion. _Of course, if we're being hypothetical, that 'me' would never have become a police officer in the first place. She would have continued following Sae-san's chosen path, deafened to her own desires for justice._

No. Her time spent with the Phantom Thieves as 'Queen' had been short- less than a year- but also life-changing in so many ways she count barely count. Among many other things, it had led her to question exactly how much was hidden beyond the veil of human understanding. _What was the Metaverse exactly? Was it really all just a fabrication of Yaldabaoth? Or, was it something more? Something that is a natural part of our world that we never happened upon until now?_

For six years she had been referring to that warped world of cognitive distortion in the past tense, believing that its existence was a thing of the past. She had, until just now, when she'd asked her superior officer Iaji Hideki about what Sorano had said in her questioning after returning from a week's disappearance.

 _Another world. Another world out there on the waves, where her dreams manifested into physical form. A Palace?_

Halfway out of reflex, she tapped her phone- the same one she'd had back then. As expected, the sinister, star-pupiled eye marking the Metaverse app was gone with no sign it of ever returning, and good riddance.

 _She said she walked through a portal of green light on the shore. Green light instead of the red that was always so dominant in Mementos. We know that Palaces don't always require the ruler to be evil, merely possessed of a distorted cognition. But... they never entered their own Palaces. Only Futaba ever did that, and that was with the app._

 _Futaba..._

She would have rather consulted with Morgana about this first. The truth was, she would have preferred to handle this matter herself. She was a junior officer training in an unfamiliar locale, but she was still an officer. She'd done all the work and passed her exams with flying colours. People called her _officer Nijima_ now, even if some of her more boorish colleagues had less flattering terms of address for her.

She was an adult, damn it. Calling in old friends from high school to help solve a case sounded weak even in her head. _If I contact one of them, the others will find out. And if I'm wrong, if Sorano is actually just making it up..._

She breathed out and stood, staring into the unblinking eye of her phone's screen. The four quadrants, then. Whenever she was weighing a decision, she found dividing the possible best and worst outcomes of each side helped to come to a more confident choice.

 _Quadrant one. I keep this to myself, and Sorano is lying. I'll find out the truth of it myself soon enough. No harm, no foul._ Her superior officer couldn't get on her about chasing leads if she kept it quiet.

 _Quadrant two. I contact the others, and Sorano is lying._ While it was true that she'd had only sporadic contact with some of the other Phantom Thieves since graduation, it was nearly impossible to imagine a scenario where any of them would be greatly offended if the story turned out to be a dead end. She'd be embarassed, but she'd survived embarassment before.

 _Quadrant three. I contact the others, and Sorano is telling the truth._ None of them had the Metaverse app any more, but the fact remained that they knew more about a world that sounded like a second-cousin at worst to whatever place the Sorano girl had wandered into than anyone else in the world. If she could enter that place, then so could they... and the loss of Metaverse app didn't mean the loss of their Personas. _Anat might be a bit rusty from lack of use, but certainly capable of dealing with a great deal._

 _Quadrant four. I keep this to myself, and Sorano is telling the truth..._

And that was what decided it for her. Because one of the many standout memories from her time as a Phantom Thief had been at the very end of it, when the real world and cognitive world had become one. Pillars of exposed bone jutting up out of the ground, a rain of blood... an apocalypse scenario that only they and those close to them could see, at least initially.

 _If this is being caused by another godly being like Yaldabaoth, then there's no time to waste. Not when I'm the one deciding it. I'll talk to Sorano while the others prepare._

Her tapped her phone again. After a pause, she held it to her ear as though the subject of her conversation was nothing more important than a dinner date.

"Hello? Hello, Futaba-chan?"

Mumble mumble.

"Yes, it's me. How's college?"

Mumble.

"Boring? I suppose, but you should pay attention anyway. Heaven knows Sakamoto had trouble just getting in."

Insulted-sounding mumble.

"Right. I'm sorry. Actually, I was calling about something I wanted you to look into."

Excited mumble.

"I see. Well, I'll tell Kurusu-kun anyway. I wouldn't want any of them to find out we kept this from them... but I wanted to ask you first. When you have the time, of course."

Exasperated mumble.

She winced. Time away had made her forget how, well, _direct_ Sojiro Sakura's adopted daughter could really be. Time and exposure to other people had improved some aspects of her character, but some small part of her would always be the peculiar shut-in they'd first encountered in the darkness of Sojiro's house.

 _Mumble._

"Okay, I understand. I'm on a special training shift in Tosashimizu right now. There's a girl at Koashimizu academy who disappeared for a week, and then when she came back, she told us that she went to another world. Name is Mirambela Sorano. Nationality Kenyan, age-."

Mumble mumble.

"What? You already looked her up? Oh, okay... the other thing I've been noticing might be connected to this as well. There's a certain nightclub in this city that I've been picking up some strange rumours about. Normally I would dismiss it, but if I couple the content of those stories with what I learned about today, and what we know about the nature of the Metaverse, or at least what it was back when we were using it... there's actually a fair bit of overlap there."

Mumble mumble. _Mumble!_

Makoto released the call and shook her head in exasperation of her own. _What have I just set in motion?_

* * *

A/N: Going on a family vacation for two weeks, so I won't be able to post for a bit. I'm hoping I haven't been too main-character-centric so far, and will try to branch out into other perspectives more in coming chapters.


	15. A Lone Prayer

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/26 Friday

After School

An inner conflict raged between impotent fury and the keen knowledge that now was the absolute worst time and place for one to lose their temper.

Still, it was tempting.

The presence of police officers at a school might, under other circumstances, have been comforting. Junior detective Makoto Nijima's words still resonated and she'd professed faith in her partner, but it was nice to see others following up on it, trying to learn what kind of connection existed between the Koashimizu girl who had disappeared and returned... and the one who had come back as a corpse.

For these reasons, the two uniformed men talking to her in the guidance office _might_ have been comforting, if they had not chosen to single Aiko out for questioning. Even that would have been a minor annoyance, not a cause for blood vessels to feel like they might burst.

Except for the fact that Julian's first soccer game was starting _right now_. She'd _promised_ to come and cheer him on. She would have done that even without making a promise, glad to finally see some extracurricular action going on at school that didn't require her to stir it back up from the living death called 'lack of interest'.

So she bit down on her lip and forced her voice into regular, nonthreatening tones no matter how many times she imagined Julian searching the crowd for her and finding nothing, no one on his side. Occasionally, she could hear noises from outside. The first game was definitely one worth watching.

"You're certain?", the shorter officer asked again. "You followed miss Sorano down to the shore, and she only returned a week after?"

"That is what happened", she replied, forcing her voice even but at the cost of making it sound robotic. "I spent a week worrying about her. I went down to beach several times after school to try and find her and bring her back. That was after I reported it to the school."

"We believe you, miss Tsuruga", the taller cop assured her, more gentle than his partner. "We merely require all the facts. Miss Sorano claimed she arrived in a completely different world, and you brought her back."

"I _did_ bring her back", Aiko said sternly. "I found her on the beach one day, the same place she disappeared. She was wet and tired and hungry."

"We know", the tall one nodded, trying to calm her. "Poor girl must have been hallucinating due to hunger and sickness. She's lucky to have a friend like you, miss Tsuruga. Our true concern now is actually miss Furusato, and... the exact depth of her relation with the transfer student Noel Vitienne."

She nearly sat up in shock. "Noel-kun would never hurt her. _Never._ "

"Then you do know him?", the short one asked, his arms folded, and she knew she had just unwittingly extended this questioning session even longer. "Yet, you have only been here at Koashimizu academy for just under a month, correct? Before then, you lived in Akihabara, Tokyo. Far from Vitienne's residence."

She said nothing. Any answer she give seemed pointlessly antagonistic. _So what?_

"What he's saying is", the tall one provided, "you can't say for certain that Vitienne is clean. We've already spoken with several other students who have known him much longer, and claimed otherwise about him."

 _WHO?_ The furious bark echoed in her mind unaired. _Who said such things?_ _Student disciplinary members? People who don't even know Noel-kun, but would believe that about him just because he's a damn 'gaijin'?_

She didn't speak that anger of course, but the short man seemed able to sense it. "I understand that you want to protect your friends, miss Tsuruga, but at this point like it or not, Vitienne is the prime suspect for miss Furusato's death. If he truly _is_ responsible for the girl's death, then shouldn't you be glad to see him properly punished for his crime?"

That... didn't help. Inwardly amazed at how calm she was behaving, Aiko pushed back in her seat. "I stand by what I said. I _know_ Noel-kun. Better than anyone else you've spoken to, in fact. He wouldn't hurt anyone."

"That is for us to decide, miss Tsuruga", the short one told her with a hint of scorn for what he no doubt saw as blind schoolgirl naivete that duly appointed officers of the law- adults- couldn't afford. "You are free to go now. You may vouch for his character if you are ever called upon as a witness at his trial."

His partner looked like he wanted to apologize, but said nothing. They were both silently expecting her to leave, so they could bring in the next person to dig into for dirt about Noel.

"You know", she said, glaring daggers back at them. "I saw the big news story just a few years ago. All those cops and investigators and coroners who were being paid off by that awful Masayoshi Shido. Nearly a hundred of them discharged from the force, right? But my mom said that it was good that they were getting rid of corrupt officers, so that the country's police force could be trusted by the people again... She would be ashamed to see you behaving this way."

The short one merely snorted. Her disapproval meant nothing to him, and vice versa. His partner stared back, suddenly looking sleepy. "That happened in Tokyo, miss Tsuruga. This is Tosashimizu city. Here, there is no such widespread corruption."

"Tell that to officer Nijima. Assuming you let her know about this case at all."

That was all she could afford to say. Anything more and she might burst, probably incrimidating herself as an accomplice. Running out into the foyer, she could already see the way the story would be spun- Noel Vitienne, the unscrupulous gaijin boy who wanted to make a clean break with his boring current girlfriend in favor of the attractive new arrival, and plotted together with her to dispose of the old...

 _God, why do I always end up going in that direction with Noel-kun?_

It was too much to take in. Too much. She needed something less stressful to take her mind off it.

 _AT: hey_

 _AT: u there, Hayato?_

 _MS: I don't think she is. What's up? How's the hame?_

 _MS: game*_

 _AT: couldn't watch it. police were questioning me._

 _MS: questioning you? why?_

 _AT: they think Noel-kun drowned Ayano-san, or at least helped cause it_

 _MS: ...that's indane._

 _MS: insane*_

 _AT: yeah. not sure, but I think somebody spread a rumour._

 _MS: omg no way_

 _MS: no one is that evil_

This naive-seeming declaration brought a faint smile to her lips. Even after all she'd been through, Mirambela remained overwhelmingly positive both in outlook and personality... most of the time. More often these days, but sometimes a mention of her experience in Faraway Lands would swing her back into the depression that had gripped her when they'd first met.

 _AT: doesn't matter. they haven't arrested him yet, but it looks bad_

 _AT: punishing whoever started the rumor won't change anything._

 _MS: what if we show them Faraway Lands?_

It was only a text, but Aiko could practically hear the desperation in that proposal.

 _AT: can't. the gate didn't open yesterday when I tried it. we already told them and they didn't believe us_

 _AT: also: no talking about that on a text pls_

 _MS: sorry. I'm just so dorried_

 _MS: worried*_

It showed, too. Mira had shown a definite reduction in texting errors and other tech-related mistakes since her return from Faraway Lands, but whatever progress she'd made had gone out the window now that they were talking about a friend who might get put on trial for a serious crime.

Aiko thought for a moment. After today's questioning, she really didn't feel like going down to the soccer field just as the game ended so she could be grilled by Julian as well.

 _Coward._

 _AT: u know where Noel-kun usually spends his days after class? When he's not at the boys' dorm doing homework?_

 _MS: sometimes he goes to the coast to draw. other times he goes to this little temple in Tosashimizu city._

Aiko was impressed to see a map with coordinates and even a website link sent to her phone next, marking a place to the north not far from the bus stop.

 _AT: thanks, Mira-chan._

 _MS: anything I can xo to yelp._

 _MS: help*_

 _MS: do**_

* * *

4/26 Friday

Evening

The temple was indeed small, a spread rectangle with a narrow steeple housing an old-looking crisscross of dark wooden beams which looked to be the same wood as what made up the six benches arranged into two rows. What little congregation there was spread out along them, none of them giving her any mind.

Except for the balding robed man with a brass cane at the front. a fringe of curly dark hair clinging to his scalp as though it might fall off at any moment. Though the book mounted on his podium indicated he'd already given a sermon today, he now seemed content to let his flock open their own personal dialogues with the almighty. As he approached Aiko, she heard a strange knocking sound that stopped when he did.

"Hello there. I am father Shigetsu. I've not seen you before. Have you come to seek guidance?"

Aiko smiled back nervously. This kind of focused devotion felt alien to someone who had grown up in the fabled 'electric city', seeing lots of shrines but never actually entering them. "I might need it later, but not right now. I was looking for someone I was told comes here often." A quick scan of the benches confirmed that he wasn't there now. "Noel Vitienne."

"Ah, yes", the priest recognised the name easily. "He does frequent our sermons, usually on Sunday of course. A good lad. Always a kind word for others."

"Would you be willing to swear in front of a jury that he's a 'good lad'?"

That got all of his attention focused on her, his cane pressing down into the wood just a bit too hard to be natural. "Is he in some sort of trouble, then?"

"Nothing official yet", she said, hating to be the bearer of this awful news to yet more people who cared about Noel. "But I think they're going to accuse him of drowning his girlfriend, Ayano Furusato."

The man crossed himself. It was the first time Aiko had ever seen the gesture performed, and it inevitably reminded her of an emoticon more than a benediction. _Man, I really have been spending too long in Akihabara._ "I cannot possibly imagine a boy less likely to commit such a sin. He has invested himself more into this place- into helping others come to terms with their grief- than any other man his age. All of his sins have been confessed to me here, and that is not one of them."

She nodded wearily. It was nice to speak with a fellow voice of sanity for once. "Pray for him, then. And if he does stop by, tell him that Aiko Tsuruga is looking for him."

"I shall", the man her turn to leave however, he rapped his cane on the wood. "Ah. Additionally, if the worse does come to pass... I would like to be informed. Who knows what the word of one shepherd and his flock will be worth, but we would give it gladly."

She looked back to see a dozen hands of all sorts of ages raised up from the benches behind them. _Solidarity I've never seen in a Koashimizu classroom._ Whether she wanted it or not, there was a bit of hope for Noel's future to be had here. _Too bad he's not here to see it._

"That... yes, that would be very helpful. Thank you. I'll let you know if he gets arrested, so you can come to the trial."

Shigetsu nodded, offered up a smile that suggested he was re-learning how to perform the action. "I understand if most children your age wish to dismiss my words, but I've sensed a great shift in the powers that watch over this land as of late. Something is coming. Something that most of us remain blind to, but... I feel as though the calamity from six years ago was only postponed, not stopped. It tries again now."

He actually did sound crazy, she acknowledged. If she hadn't gone through what she had recently, she might have dismissed him as a crackpot. "The calamity six years ago?"

Shigetsu's eyes closed. He leaned back just enough so that Aiko could see the strange asymmetry of his body when it leaned in any direction, and understand.

He hid it well. The robe covered his form all the way down to his feet, and how often does someone really pay attention to that part of their pastor? It was only the way the cloth sudden bent inwards at an angle, creating a smaller depression in his right side that made her realize, and move her gaze down further to spot the man's clean black boot.

Boot, singular.

Shock made her forget every courtesy she'd ever known. "How...?"

The priest's sigh seemed to let more empty air into the room than it could contain. "The calamity struck us. Beings of darkness appeared, and did this to me."

 _The calamity...? But I don't remember anything like that happening six years ago._

No. That wasn't quite right. There had been something. Six years ago, just a few days after the legendary public confession of minister Shido to many wicked crimes on the very eve of his election, she'd been watching it at home. It hadn't meant that much to her at the time, but it seemed like the adults had all been informed the world was ending.

Kogaya hadn't cared, naturally. There wasn't much that could catch her attention, unless her daughter did something that might hurt herself or refused to eat.

But she'd gone outside that day, without really able to place the reason why. It just felt like the walls of the house were pressing in around her then. A common enough sensation, but this had been worse somehow. A vague sense of unease, like she was being pursued by unseen observers who wished her nothing pleasant. The feeling hadn't abated once she was outside either. She'd simply walked and walked, hoping to shake it off, and then...

She snorted. _Can't remember what happened then. I went back home and the feeling was gone._

 _Calamity? What happened? And why don't I remember?_

Whatever her own concerns, Shigetsu had obviously come to terms with it. He put a hand out to prop her chin up. "Please don't be sad. I am certain that the correct powers will intervene to save humanity, just as they did last time."

That jarred her out of her memories, blinking and facing the congregation again. "Oh. I'm sorry. I just... I don't remember any kind of calamity happening six years ago. There was the election, and then..."

The priest nodded as if he'd expected nothing else. "Yes. I'm afraid my medical insurance provider refused to cover this until I told them 'the truth of what happened'. What they mean, of course, is the truth that they are willing to accept."

"That's awful", she whispered into the candelabra. She suddenly felt very inconsiderate, coming here and bothering a one-legged priest for help when they were obviously in some degree financial trouble. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for, girl. It was the creatures of darkness who did this to me. There had to be a reason for it to happen, and so I accept it in good faith."

 _Creatures of darkness... Shadows? But how could Shadows appear in Tokyo without anyone else knowing about it?_

"The creatures did vanish in the end, and the sky returned to normal, no longer a rain of blood. Perhaps my flesh was the sacrifice required to avert the calamity."

"Maybe", Aiko nodded wearily. She didn't have the heart to suggest he was wrong. "Noel-kun's lucky to have friends like you."

"Don't understate your own value either, miss Tsuruga", he reminded her gently. "We did not even know of Noel's plight until this very moment, and you are clearly reaching out to him. If all people were so supportive of those we care for, I doubt that the world would be in its current state."

"Me too. Wait... Samesaji-san?"

As she looked closer, one of the people who had raised their hands when Shigetsu asked stood up to reveal familiar black ponytail and a shy, reluctant smile. "Hi there, Tsuruga-san. I guess you can imagine what I'm here for."

She could, and the realization made her more confident than a dozen upraised hands had. Kotone's light hands found hers as they closed with one another. "We try. That's all we can do now. I _know_ Noel-kun wouldn't do anything bad to her."

"She has come to pray for the soul of her departed friend as well", the man noted. "An awful tragedy that should not be compounded by another. Ah, young love..."

Still confident, Aiko regarded him and the others with new appreciation. "It won't. I'll make sure of it."

The man beamed, centering his gravity again so that his wound was concealed. "Then you will always be welcome here, child. Together is the only way that humanity might survive calamities such as the events of six years ago."

* * *

4/27 Saturday

After School

Mr. Umaeda's second fencing session had been every bit as exhausting as the first one, but Aiko did not let that stop her from putting full effort into her voice once they were done learning the various attack forms.

"I'm sorry."

It felt like she'd been saying that a lot lately.

Julian was in a similar state. He looked tired, but took no time in picking up on what she meant. Or in waving it away as they exited the sparring room. "Hey, it's cool. We're both busy people. Not like you had to come or anything. We'll be seeing each other in this club anyway, right?"

"But, I promised..."

He shrugged, idly twirling a blue pen on two fingers as was his general habit. "Not like you missed very much going on yesterday. First game? More like 'worst lame'. That crappy other team couldn't do a thing."

"Sounds like you had fun anyway."

Julian pocketed the pen- as expected, him doing such a thing while walking was attracting a few stares, and while he clearly enjoyed all the attention and gossip he was getting, he also knew that she _didn't_. "No, not really. It's no fun if it's too easy. I barely got a chance to show off all my awesome skillz."

Aiko gave a weak smile. She still liked Julian as a friend, but sometimes he was a fair bit too impressed with himself for his own good. That attitude hadn't yet crept into their fencing classes, but outside of them he could be a handful. He wrinkled his nose seeing the front of her locker, which bore yet another of the revolting messages she had gotten so used to seeing that it was a mere nuisance, but for him it was still a fresh insult- _you are so ugly you should drink bleach and kill yourself._

"Ughhh. Assholes. You know, if you really do feel bad about missing my game and want to make it up to me, how about if we get together for something else? Maybeeee... somewhere out in the city?"

The question hung in the hall's dusty air as if the competing noise of the rumour mill had trapped the words for posterity. _Say yes and everyone in the school will know. As Julian planned, no doubt._

To hell with what they know, she decided. It was her life.

"You start fast", she observed nonchalantly once she'd gotten the books she needed.

"In everything, Tsuruga-chan", he confirmed cheerily. "Is that a yes?"

She gave an exasperated smile. He didn't have to say anything at all to imply that this was also repayment for agreeing to join the fencing club with her in the first place. "Seeing as how you seem like the type to keep trying until I do, why not? I have some plans for tomorrow, but maybe Monday after school?"

"Done. Meet you at the bus stop after class."

The fog of random whispers that was a permanent part of the scenery at Koashimizu intensified almost immediately, for once focusing on one single topic and a thousand differing viewpoints on it. Like with the messages she'd seen on her locker and on the school's online discussion boards, she had learned to let it wash over her as meaningless noise.

"...shack up with any gaijin, won't she?"

"...wanna see how they get on..."

"...he is kind of dreamy though, and he's only hafu..."

"...ujou-san's right, she really is a shameless skan-..."

"...get my phone-..."

Still, it was a relief to get out of the building and enjoy the fresh rain washing over her face.

* * *

4/28 Sunday

Morning

Cape Ashizuri was a natural marvel, a spit of cliff jutting out off the southernmost end of the Koichi prefecture to the point that it was surrounded by water on three sides at once. A towering white light house topped it off, and various other facilities had been constructed around it to transform it into a true vacation destination.

The sheer stone cliffs also carried sound quite well, as anyone who happened to be near the cape that morning discovered.

"Underwater boat price is HOW much?!" Aiko's voice came out in a shriek before remembering where she was and dropping to a tone less likely to frighten children. "Okay, what about the tours?"

A uniformed gentleman bearing Pelagio's level of exaggerated dignity shook his head in dismissal. "I'm afraid such a thing would need to be booked in advance. All our time slots for the next month are currently taken, miss. The price of a reservation will be 10,000 yen in advance, please."

Minutes later, she and Mirambela were sitting outside the visitors' center, having achieved the exact opposite result they had wanted with their 'celebration party'.

Or at least, Aiko had. Mira didn't look that bummed about it at least. "It's just as well, Ai-chan", she assured her roommate with a cold hand placed over hers. "Midterms are coming up after this week... we should be using these days to catch up on studying."

"We can't even reserve anything for next week", Aiko grumped. "This sucks! I wanted to have a victory party!"

"It does", Mira agreed. "But there's no point in getting upset over it. Having a fit won't make them lower the prices. Maybe after midterms, we can go try somewhere less expensive."

When the sight of Pelagio soaring overhead failed to rouse her mood, Mira decided to press a little more. "Maybe you shouldn't have bought that TV? Look, you've already saved me from something no one else could have. I'm content to just enjoy my life for now, because I know that if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have my life at all. That's the best present that I can ask for."

For several moments, there was only the sea breeze and the faint chatter of wealthier passerby. Then, Aiko stood. "There is one place we can go... and it's _free_. You wanted to try it out, right?"

Mira stared, knowing what she referred to. "You mean...? I don't know if I count that as free. It's _dangerous_."

"So's life", Aiko grunted, still aggravated at having bussed so far to gain nothing from it. "We'll be careful. Pela-chan and I know how things work there now. We'll stay away from your Land, or any other big ones that look like they might have strong Shadows. It'll be fine. I need to work this stress out anyway."

Despite keeping up a steady torrent of objections on the trip home, Mira eventually yielded. "But only when the gate opens. Until then, we _study_."

Aiko chuckled, bright after her victory. "Yes, ma'am. I guess it's only natural that you're so focused on that now that Takao-sensei gave you a second chance. How'd that go, by the way?"

"Well enough", she said noncommitally. "We won't know until marks get posted next week, but I think I did alright, having to do everything again and submit it in hand-writing. I'm more worried about midterms now."

"Yeah", Aiko agreed sheepishly. There was something about all she'd done in the last few weeks that made studies feel so... _irrelevant_. Even though they weren't, especially not for someone whose continued fencing classes depended on getting above average grades. "I checked, by the way."

Ignoring the tremors of the bus, Mira blinked. "Checked what?"

"Your online assignments. Aren't you curious about what really happened to them that day?"

Mira's lips tightend. "Not really. It's kind of obvious, now that I'm thinking clearly again. That's why I'm doing all my assignments on paper now."

"Everything deleted", Aiko mused, more infatuated with finding the culprit than its victim. "Not even any records showing submissions of assignments and notes. Got to be a hacker, right?"

Mira rolled her brown eyes at her friend's habit of immediately jumping to the most dramatic conclusions. "More likely it was just someone with high-ranked access to the school's online records. Someone from the IT department who either didn't like me, or was taking orders from someone who doesn't like me."

"Bastard", Aiko spat.

Mira shrugged, strangely calm after how her initial reaction had gone. "It could have been worse. They could have left behind files from... adult websites. Takao-sensei said he would calculate my grade personally, so we'll definitely know if they try changing that. Honestly, aside from that things have been pretty quiet. It's... nice."

It wasn't hard to figure why that was. Only the most heartless of Benihime Kujou's anti-exchange student group would be able to bring themselves to target someone who had just returned from a week's disappearance, preluded by an emotional meltdown that seemingly everyone in the school knew about now.

Of course, that temporary sympathy only meant that their attention had been shifted over to a more high-profile target- Aiko herself.

"Why do they do it?", she lamented. Not because of any particular mental anguish, though she couldn't deny it was irritating to her. "They really feel like this is the best use of their time and energy?"

Mira stared out the bus window facing the cliff, eyes passing over the countless bits of plantlife which clung tenaciously to it. "I don't like to point fingers, but I figured it was the same thing which drives the JCAP at their rallies."

Aiko grimaced. "Which is what? I don't really get them either."

"A _shetani_ ", Mira announced flatly, her eyes lowered. "A devil. Rather, they are seeking out a devil to fight against. Something which can be labelled as the source of all of their woes large and small, in the belief that removing it will improve their lives and remove those sorrows. People in authority that they wish to trust claim that _we_ are that _shetan_ i."

"Idiots."

Mira leaned back, taking a moment to scan the bus for anyone who might overhear their words and take offense. Aside from a few elderly folk keeping to their own devices, they were alone.

"Labelling over two million citizens of Japan as 'idiots', Ai-chan, is not really so far off from the kind of broad strokes that JCAP promotes. Hating them is equally as productive as their activities."

More thoughtfully, she used her phone- no longer showing any fear of its multitude of buttons or interface- to bring up public information on the founding of the JCAP movement, and how their influence had gradually spread across the nation over the last six years. Its fundamentals had begun with many of the more radical ideologies originally put forth by the United Future party shortly before its disbandment, due to its charismatic leader, suddenly confessing to murders, rape, and worse on the very eve of his election.

Their website looked very well designed indeed. It inspired trust and hope for a better tomorrow.

"I could spend a lot of my time and energy hating the highest leaders of JCAP for what they have created out of Masayoshi Shido's support base, tricking countless people into believing that removing all foreign people from the country will turn it into a perfect paradise for them, where can work much less and earn much more. It is tempting at times, but I do not believe it would achieve anything of value. And so... I do not hate."

Her friend hesitated, stating into the linoleum floor. "Good for you, Mira-chan. Wish I could say the same. They're still idiots, and I don't like them."

"You are far from alone in that", Mira admitted, playing with her phone some more. With confidence, now that she had someone show her how to do everything with it. "My father says that these various movements across the world are like wildfires. They are dangerous now, but will eventually burn themselves out as more and more people realize that they are doing more harm than good."

"But until then, we have put up with people like Mattora and Kujou", Aiko remarked. "And Noel-kun might get accused of a murder that he would never do."

"He might", she noted sadly. Aiko had told her everything about the boy's situation, including the fact that he and Kotone Samesaji normally attended the church together, and the fact that father Shigetsu had likely encountered Shadows six years ago. Shadows who had torn his leg off when he tried to resist.

"But that has not happened yet. He hasn't even been accused of anything yet. All we can do is monitor the news channels closely, and try to show up for Vitienne-kun's trial with as many people as we can if it comes to that."

"And hope that the whole forest doesn't burn down in the meantime", Aiko finished dourly. For all they'd accomplished in the other world, it seemed that hope was all they could manage for now.

* * *

o


	16. Pursuing My True Self

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/28 Sunday

Afternoon

Mirambela looked nervous, and it was tempting to ask her if she wanted to opt out. Her last experience with the gaping maw of green light at Yume Bay wasn't exactly a good first impression.

But Aiko also knew what the answer to that question would be. Her friend would buck up, set her lips firm, and insist that she had to come along and help them.

"Sorry", she said as the tide lapped at their legs. "I forgot about the cave. At least you came prepared."

After studying and studying until the point where Aiko felt her brain might melt or freeze or both, Mira had gone and changed into an exotically-patterned red swimsuit, unaware of the routine the others had developed for changing at the beach cave so as not to draw attention or have to face an increasingly bitter wind hitting her skin on the way down the coast from the dorm. She hadn't complained about it once, and if she was cold it was impossible to tell.

"I suppose it is more convenient", she remarked as the tide tickled her exposed feet. "If anyone asks, we can just say that we went swimming. That's not even a lie, really. I hope I won't have to wear this on the other side, however."

That wasn't something that even Pelagio could have guessed at, but they had their answer when they emerged from the other side of the gate onto the deck of his ship form. The sky of this dimension was as threateningly dark as Aiko remembered it, and the water canvassed a universe's worth of reflected lights.

Aiko was better prepared for the change this time, her clothes shifting during transition through the gate into an outfit that even the most dedicated costume designers might find difficult to create. A dark, wide-sleeved frock coat garbed her with a faded tunic and belt beneath it blocking out the cold of the breeze. The lined white gloves coming out of those sleeves looked better cared-for, though the alarming thought occurred to her for the first time that these gloves looked like the exact same type as the ones worn by Igor.

 _Not that I don't like him, it's just... he's, well... he's creepy. That's not an opinion, it's a hard, inarguable fact. Mr. Igor is a creepy, creepy friend._

The rest of her outfit remained mostly unchanged as well, including dark breeches and leather boots plucked from a 17th century renaissance. The triangular hat remained nestled up in her loose hair, its thin, floppy brim inevitably dipping down to veil her eyes no matter how tried adjusting it. There was the comforting hard metal foil of a cutlass at her belt, with which she had destroyed Shadows drawn straight out of her worst nightmares for much of this month, and the lingering, splintered remnant of her ruby remained tucked away in her pocket.

Mira, however...

Mirambela was a completely new sight, however. Her bathing suit had gone, to be replaced by a costume that looked to be composed entirely of beads and string, with the exception of a thick white cloth completely guarding her modesty. A vibrant headdress of red and gold like the kind her Persona bore topped it off, the ribbon cloth waving around her like tiny flags in the gentle wind, and beneath it a shining golden eye mask covered her upper face.

Her friend said nothing for several minutes, taking it all in and reaching down to her belt to find the protruding handles of a pair of rounded ornamental-looking daggers in the shaped pockets at her waist.

Mira smiled, despite her lack of enthusiasm for the violence that such weapons implied. "I am the Dancer", she repeated the words from a week prior, the words which had sealed her contract with the newly-awakened Persona. " _Chakacha_ , Oya!"

"Nice", Aiko approved as the new Persona manifested, floating just above her friend's shoulder. The breeze seemed to curl around the _Orisha_ , forming a barrier that was almost visible, and lightning skipped along her long, ring-covered arms as though each individual bolt was a merry dancer itself. "Wait, do you think you can...?"

Knowing what she spoke of, Mira's smile widened, all her previous doubts falling away now that her Persona was beside her again. She didn't even feel the slightest bit cold. "I do believe I can. But we must select our destination first, yes? A training ground, I believe you asked for?"

Pelagio's bow shifted, turning so they could see a squat plume of dead gray rock ahead of them, evidence of deep networks of caverns already apparent across its pocked surface. "I believe that this island will suffice, my lady. It is near Dancer's Land, so many of the Shadows who fled it after its fall would have taken refuge here."

It looked promising, but Aiko frowned. "Her name is Mirambela."

Mira chuckled, and raised her arms as if in ritual. Oya followed her gesturing, and a moment after, the wind current behind Pelagio's main sail kicked up several notches, accelerating and boosting his speed over that short distance.

"I am Mirambela, and I am also the Dancer", she announced merrily, legitimately excited to see Aiko's reaction to what her new Persona powers could do for their voyage. "Yes. I feel it... that's my role in this world. The Dancer of storms, and death and rebirth."

"Actually, my lady", Pelagio piped up, trying not to sound _too_ impressed by their new ally's talent with wind, "she brings up a point I had wished to discuss with you earlier, now that we shall be operating as a team."

The younger girl tried not to let her confusion show. "What is it?"

"As you well know by now, this world is one of cognition, of the human subconscious mind. However, it is not entirely deaf to the words that are spoken within it. Now that we shall be communicating with each other more often as a team, I would consider it wise for us to use names other than our true ones going forward. If you would wish to continue keeping this dimension and our involvement with it a secret from the majority of humans, that is."

Waiting for the ship to dock, she went to the rail to scan their arrival point. "Uh... Sorry, not following you. _Why_ do we need to do that?"

Mira shrugged in apology. "Sorry Ai-chan, I know it's pretty complicated stuff. I think I get it though. Basically, if we keep calling each other's names while we're waltzing right through people's private dream worlds, someone might pick up on it while they're sleeping. Now normally, that won't be a problem for us, but if it was someone we _knew_..."

"Then they'd start looking at us a lot harder, even if they didn't know exactly _why_ ", Aiko finished for her, understanding finally. "Hee. And all this time, I've heard girls talking about _hoping_ that guys dreamed about them. Fine. You're Dancer while we're here then. I guess that means we need code names as well, right Pela-tori?"

"I doubt that I will", Pelagio's voice issued from every corner of the ship. "I do not interact with very many humans. However, I would like to be considered a part of this group. Thus, I shall follow your lead. Hm."

The ship made no sign of it, continuing on its course, so they merely had to imagine Pelagio taking a moment to think carefully.

"I shall be... Guardian."

"Guardian", Aiko repeated. "Hard to argue with that one. What about me?"

Mira's attention shifted to Aiko's hat and greatcoat then, noting how it had gradually become more regal a garment with every trip they took into Faraway Lands. Though it looked like there was a lot of improvements yet to be made, the coat now looked like something one might actually spend money on instead of finding it in the trash.

"...Captain", she announced at last. "You're our leader, right? Guardian always defers to you."

Aiko shook her head and winced. "Not because I want him to. No way. I get that I'm the leader of this team now, but I don't like that name. I already know a captain."

"Maybe", Mira remarked teasingly. "But you _are_ still our captain, captain. What about you, Guardian? Any ideas for a new name for our captain?"

"Hm... Lady?"

The two of them both stamped their feet hard into the deck, but the deck did not yield a cry of pain as they had expected. "...I take that to mean that as a no? Very well. What about... Saber?"

She instinctively brought narrowed eyes to the hilt of her cutlass, still hanging off her belt. "Kind of predictable... but I guess that's a blessing in this case. Having a cool code name isn't going to help us fight Shadows or anything. Alright. Saber it is then. Now, can we _please_ get going and earn some money here?"

"Ha. I knew it", Mira gloated quietly. " _That's_ why you said you wanted to go to Faraway Lands today. We're _not_ going to be fighting Shadows until we have 10,000 yen, Ai-ch- I mean, Saber."

"We won't", their newly-christened leader promised her. "I just want to have some for next time. Never know when it might come in handy."

She didn't have to wait much longer. The trio had only to enter the first cave ahead of them to see something easily recognizable as a Shadow creeping towards them. It lacked the high-tech disguise that all the Shadows in Mira's Land had worn like metal shells around their true bodies, but the revolting black ooze form puddling along the dirt and frozen white mask suggested a miniature version of a Leviathan Shadow.

Even that fell away with the first hit of Aiko's cutlass, the mask giving out an angry roar before the entire form twisted, convulsed and collapsed into a puddle. It rose back up in a more familiar state a moment after, resolving into a short figure of white and blue, round head bearing a face with a yellow spot on its forehead and round eyes. Despite its pointed fangs, it was _cute_. Just like Igor being _creepy_ , this Shadow's _cute_ ness was an indisputable fact of the universe that couldn't be contradicted, and by the look on Mirambela's face she felt the same way.

More surprising was the childish voice it spoke up with, younger than any Shadow they had fought before. "Hee ho!", it squealed as Mira tried her daggers out for the first time, blending agile dancing moves with the leathality of dual-wielding. "Why are you hee-re, invading my hee-home?! I'll fr-hee-ze you, ho!"

"AAH!"

As implied, jagged stars of solid ice descended to pierce Mirambela at the creature's gesture. Aiko was already healing her as she cried out from it, still unfamiliar with just how painful actual combat against Shadows could be. Meanwhile, Pelagio had unleashed his own spell, the neon blue dome explosion sending the tiny Shadow flying. The instant she had recovered, Mira followed suit, calling upon Oya to unleash a surge of lightning into it.

"Nice shot, Dancer", Aiko called, the old, giddy confidence which had brought her here flooding back. As expected, this Shadow seemed comparatively weak, a minor annoyance compared to some of the more dangerous specimens from Mira's ulra-technological forest. This one was already on the ground, the chirpy fear in its voice conveying what its nearly motionless face could not.

"N-nooo-ho! Please don't kill me-hee, ho!"

Pelagio brandished his broadsword, but Aiko saw that Mira was already sheathing her weapons. "This... doesn't feel right. I feel like we are the bad guys here. Were all your battles like this?"

"No", Aiko agreed, lowering her weapon in frank embarrassment. "All the other Shadows we saw weren't nearly this... well, this _cute_. Fortunately, we do have an alternative to just killing it... because honestly, I don't think I could bring myself to do that now."

She spoke to the Shadow then, trying to use a soothing tone like Mira's mother- or rather the android cognition pretending to be Mira's mother- did. "Easy now, you cute little guy. We didn't want any trouble. We're just so used to Shadows attacking us first, that's all. Didn't mean any harm, okay?"

The white and blue fairy seemed to consider that, round black doll eyes staring back into hers. "They are pretty me-hee-an", he acknowledged. "They give us Shad-ho a bad name! Someone ought to te-hee-ach them a lesson, ho!"

"Someone like you, little guy?"

The face remained motionless, but its head tilted upward, suddenly excited. "You me-hee-n it? I can jo-ho-in you in teaching?"

Smiling back, she extended a gloved hand. "Join with me, and we'll teach all those mean Shadows a thing or two."

The creature's joy was contagious.

"Yay! You're so cool! I'll help you! My name's Jack Frost, ho!"

The Shadow became a mass of a multicolored particles then, flying wildly around the grotto before joining with Aiko. While Pelagio had seen this sight enough times to find it mere rote, Mira's brown eyes shot open in amazement. "Whoa... Saber, what did you just do?"

"I took on a new Persona", Aiko explained calmly, briefly checking for any side effects of her newest addition. A bit chilly, perhaps, or just her imagination? "Don't get too excited now, I'm the only one who can do that."

"I'm feeling pretty excited", Mira countered wryly. "And I'm glad we don't have to kill all of them. "

"No", Pelagio agreed beside her, his voice sliding into a more serious tone as two more dark blobs emerged from a narrow crevice. "Merely the ones who cannot behave themselves."

The new arrivals were exactly that kind of Shadow once their masks had been discarded. One took on the form of a red-scaled hound with vicious-looking jaws and yellow fish fins, but despite its appearance a dose of Jack Frost's ice magic took care of it rather quickly.

The real problem was the second one, a green-skinned hulk with long, mangy black hair and a toga that looked like skin. Repeated exposure to elemental spells barely seemed to faze it, and a single strike from its stone club was enough to send Pelagio careening into a wall, only spared further injury by his protective spells and armor. Only when Aiko got close enough to stick her blade directly into the beast's chest did it finally surrender a grasping hold on life, leaving the cavern quiet once more.

"That", Mira noted in a voice carefully keeping the worst of her alarm out of it, "was more like I was expecting it to be like. Without you two here, I'd be doomed."

"Don't worry about it. You'll get the hang of it", Aiko promised her. Though it was true that Dancer had a lot to learn about using her Persona's powers and her daggers effectively, having a novice teammate was much better than none at all.

This only became more apparent as they continued into the cavern, battling more hostile Shadows as they went. They were a varied bunch, ranging from dome-haired fanged imps to red-haired winged fairies in blue leotards, but nothing stronger than the green giant from earlier appeared to challenge them. Mira seemed more impressed with the variety of different Personas and powers displayed by their newly-appointed leader, who continued changing her abilities to meet each new foe with hardly any delay.

"I'm starting to see why you were so confident, Saber", she remarked after she had used Anne Bonny's gushing water blasts to dispatch a shiny, golden-feathered bird whose very presence offended Pelagio even before it had struck with green wind similar to Oya's power. "Still, I hope we finish soon. This is still a risk. We're playing with our lives here."

"I believe that we are in fact done our journey here, Dancer", Pelagio said, his large raptor eyes staring up a slanted shaft of rock with an rough opening at the top letting in stale orange light. "I do not sense any more Shadows here."

"Awww", Aiko sheathed her blade, pouting. "I was hoping for just a few more at least."

Mira waited until they were all out of the shaft and waiting for Pelagio to transform before gripping her friend's shoulder through her greatcoat. "Ai-chan, please listen to me."

"Don't you mean Saber? You're the one who-"

The grip tightened, almost causing her pain. " _Saber,_ please listen to me. This _isn't_ a game! If we ever lose to these Shadow creatures, they will _kill_ us. Even a fight against weak Shadows, or Shadows we've beaten before, still risks the end of our lives, the end of everything that we ever were, everything we are, and everything we might be back in our world! So please..."

She paused, her other hand flying up to a messy gash in the pale flesh of Aiko's cheek which had eluded their notice until now. Though it was small, there was a scarlet sign of blood loss to a Shadow's razor claws there. "... _Please_ , _please,_ be careful. You're the best thing that's happened to me since I came to this country. I... I don't what I'd do if you died. I... Ca-Can't..."

Then the tears were in the way, and she had to sniff and reach up with her other hand to brush them off first.

"Saber. Please. I don't want you to die here. I don't want _any_ of us to die here. We all have to go on living."

Her friend sensed it too, one gloved hand rising up to touch the blood, sensing it for the first time. It glowed green with healing energy before disappearing, leaving the flesh as pristine as a newborn's. "I know, Dancer. It's alright. Believe me, I'm taking every single battle seriously here. Even the so-called 'easy' ones. If we lose a fight, we die. I know that. We'd just disappear, just like Furusato-san. No one would ever know what really happened."

She would never forget what her own reaction had been after coming to the same realization, or the fear that had nearly caused her to give up as a result. But if she had, then Mirambela would not be standing here talking to her right now. She would be gone.

"Good", Mira said, apologetically releasing her grip. "Just as long as you completely understand. This isn't _supposed_ to be fun. You did this so that I could learn how to use my Persona in combat, and now I have. Unless someone else enters the gate, then there's no reason for us to come back here and risk our lives any more."

"I still want to find Ayano-san's Land", Aiko reminded her sternly, refusing to budge on that point. "It's somewhere out on these waters. Noel-kun deserves his closure. But you're right. No sense in taking risks. We'll face this thing one day at a time. Exploring one island at a time, if we need to, getting stronger all the while. Then, some day, we'll find her."

"That... would be nice", Mira admitted shyly. She only wanted this trip to be over now, so that she didn't have to keep emphasizing to her seemingly oblivious friend the very real dangers of Faraway Lands. She didn't like it when they fought like this. "This place is massive though. Even with my Persona boosting Guardian's sailing speed. It's going to be a long time before-"

" _Ahem_ ", the aforementioned Guardian piped up, having transformed minutes ago. "I trust that you two _are_ planning to board me at some point in the near future? Or shall we wait here for the Reaper's ship to find us?"

Both hesitated, however, thrown off for a moment.

"Wait... was Pelagio just... _sarcastic?"_

Aiko laughed.

Regardless, that memory of the Reaper got her back onto the deck in record time, Mira right behind her despite knowing nothing about the Reaper except its name. "Sorry for the wait", their captain said. "Set a course for home, Guardian."

* * *

4/29 Monday (Showa Day)

Lunch

A Big Bang Burger joint wouldn't have been Aiko's first idea of a date location ( _can't believe it still sounds so cool to even think that word... date)_ , but yesterday had given her a stark reminder of the financial realities that most students her age faced. Even this was an expenditure.

While it might have been possible for her to afford a trip to a fancier restaurant or go to a movie together now with the money she'd earned from the Shadows yesterday combined with everything else she had in reserve, throwing that much cash around- cash that as Mirambela had reminded her again and again and _again_ had been earned by risking their lives in fights to the death against nightmarish creatures- seemed like a colossal waste. Sacrilegious, somehow.

 _No. That money stays separate from my usual funds, only to be used for special occasions or emergencies. That's a road I'm definitely not travelling, butchering Shadows just so I can buy nice clothes. It feels too much like killing animals to wear their fur. No._

Pelagio had tried to explain to them exactly why Shadows dropped money to begin with, but she still didn't quite get it. She wouldn't complain however.

It might have even turned Julian off. He seemed like the type who wanted to be in charge of his own destiny more than any other partner, and it wasn't like either of their stomachs would rebel at having burgers for the umpteenth time. Julian wolfed his meal down with an energy she'd rarely seen outside of eating contests on TV, spending the extra time merely watching her as she ate her food at a more deliberate pace.

"Hey Tsuruga-chan, thanks again for the fencing club", he started with a smile equally as energetic as the rest of him. "I honestly never thought I'd enjoy it this much. Umaeda-sensei's got to enjoy teaching that way more than freakin' math class too."

"Thank you for helping me get it started", she replied kindly. "Even with us both, Umaeda-sensei is technically bending the rules unless he picks up two more students."

"Rules", Julian echoed. The amount of disgust he was able to put into one word was truly astounding. "More like drools. Rules were made up by miserable assholes who can't enjoy themselves and wanted to ruin the fun for everyone else too, taking away their freedom."

Without even looking, she could tell that he was spinning his drinking straw around on one finger almost too fast to be seen, his usual self in full swing now. It seemed a shame to deflate him by changing the subject to something depressing.

"Have you heard about Noel-kun?"

The barely-perceptible spinning noise stopped. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I heard. Can't believe anyone would accuse him of doing anything bad to Furusato-chan. You know what that dude told me once?"

Aiko shook her head.

"One of Kujou's friends was being a bitch to him as usual, and I say to him that we ought to go sort them out personally." The way he smacked one fist into an open palm left no doubt as to what he meant. "And get this; he says to me, he says that he took an oath in some big deal cathedral back home- a fucking _oath_ \- before God, that he would never hurt another human being."

That revelation dredged up the anger she'd felt from before towards the two policemen. "So he won't hurt anyone except for himself. He's not even _trying_ to fight the accusations."

"He doesn't fight", Julian said coldly. "Period. I've never seen him take so much as a single swing at anybody, no matter how much they asked for it. Me? I'd give 'em a piece of what they had coming, but he's different. Besides... I don't think he's in a good state to argue right now."

That much was certainly true. Noel had missed more classes than Aiko could keep track of. He never spoke with her, always retreating to the boys' dorm after class to be alone.

"Then we need to argue for him", Aiko claimed, slapping one firm hand onto the table. "I've talked with Samesaji-san, Hayato-senpai, Mira-chan, and all the people in the church he normally goes to here in the city. If he does have to go to a trial, then we're all going to show our support for him in any way we can."

Julian extended a lean arm. "Hey, you can count on me, Tsuruga-chan. Whatever you need. Anyone with half a brain knows that guy's not guilty. Trial? What a damn waste."

"Thank you", she beamed. "Enough depressing talk, then. If it's okay, I'd... I'd like to know more about you, Julian-kun."

He gave a triumphant laugh in return, but thankfully didn't start spinning straws on his hands again. "Hey, what's there to say? As you can probably tell, I was born here to a Japanese and American couple who emigrated. Somehow, that still makes me 'hafu' in some people's eyes. Whatever." Though lacking anything to hold, his fingers flexed with pronounced manual dexterity that few other people possessed. "And, as you've already seen... I have mad skills."

"I haven't seen it yet", she reminded him calmly. "But I'm kind of looking forward to it now. Your next game is on Friday, right?"

But that innocent question seemed to affect Julian far worse than any of the news about Noel had. He looked like he was about to retreat behind the table before shaking his head. "Nope. Thursday. Then we get a week without a game 'cause of exams, then two games in one week to make up for Golden week."

"I see. Are you studying okay for those?" It wasn't something she would normally ask anyone except Mirambela, but she wasn't forgetting for an instant that the continued existence of the fencing club hinged on _both_ their grades maintaining an acceptable level.

"I'm good", he promised. "Really, I am. Better than I usually do in school anyway. I'm getting in a good two hours of studying at the dorm a day, 'cept when I have soccer practice. My folks want me to improve too, but I'm doin' it for the fencing club... and for you, of course. I mean..."

"Of course", she cut in, sensing his gratitude for saving him before things got too awkward between them. "If you ever feel like you do need some help, just call us. Mira-chan's been really good at keeping me focused on exams with everything else that's been going on lately." _Including a bunch of things that I can't tell you about. Sorry._

"Hey, thanks." He broke off for a moment, waiting as a passing ambulance blasted them all with noise and light, then grinned foxily. "My turn. Not trying to veer this back into gloomsville or anything, but... do you know any details about what exactly _happened_ to Furusato-chan?"

Aiko went very still, and wondered if there was something wrong with her burger after all from the way her stomach suddenly dropped out. "Why would you ask me that, Julian-kun? I never knew her myself. She disappeared before I arrived."

His gaze had dropped all the fun out of it now, for once boring into her with complete earnestness. "I was just askin'. Just wondering if it had anything to do... with Faraway Lands."

* * *

4/29 Monday (Showa Day)

Afternoon

Mr. Umaeda was relaxing in the fencing club room when the door suddenly opening reminded him of another aspect of his training that felt out of place at Koashimizu academy; the instinctive reaction that had him near the doorway the space of a breath, ready to pounce in case it turned out to be a hostile intruder.

There were two of them, and one of them did feel hostile, but not in the way that he could do anything about. It was the kind of hostility far more common to the modern day and age, the type which could not harm you directly but sought your ruin in other ways. The type that was usually hidden behind a smile, and Ms. Mattora did in fact have one of those plastered on her Olympian face.

"Mr. Umaeda", the other arrival, Principal Yumika bowed to him with a more genuine courtesy, the fencing room's ceiling lights glinting off his round glasses. "I thought we'd visit you here instead of having to make a scene and drag you into my office. Sadly, some teachers are as bad with gossip as our students."

"You don't say", Umaeda noted, one eye locked onto Ms. Mattora. "Well, whatever secrets you have are safe with me, sir. Sorry I can't offer you a chair."

"Think nothing of it", Ms. Mattora told him as they entered the room and shut the door. "This shouldn't take very long."

He wouldn't sit. It felt like it might be an insult to them, and he wanted to be on his feet for this if it was what he expected.

"It's come to our attention that you have re-opened the fencing club", Yumika said neutrally.

"Without requesting permission from the principal", Mattora seconded more confrontationally.

Umaeda looked as bored as he felt. Even an amateur duel using the foil variant would have been less predictable. "Begging your pardon, Ms. Mattora, but the club was never actually officially closed down. It was merely not being used due to lack of interest. This year, there have been two applicants so far who _were_ interested. I think we should respect that interest."

The tall woman shook her head, light raisin hair tousled atop it. "Only _two_ applicants, Mr. Umaeda, _and_ both of them known troublemakers. Delinquents. The school rules state that a school club may only remain active if it has at least four students in it. Surely, a mathematics teacher is aware of the difference there?"

Yumika smiled sadly. "She's right, I'm afraid. While I don't wish to trample on the dreams of those two students who applied, that rule is in place to conserve school resources for use in more popular clubs, such as the Shogi and drama clubs, not to mention soccer. As you have been made aware, our budget has never been tighter this year."

"I know the budget's tight", Umaeda countered wistfully, knowing just how galling it must have been for Principal Yumika to go to those school board meetings and learn what was being cut next due to lack of funds. "Kind of hard to miss with that great big gaping hole in our backyard. But this costs the school nothing. I'm not asking payment for extra hours."

To drive his point home, he slid the wall partition aside to reveal the sets of equipment, still bearing little in the way of use except the occasional marking.

"You tried selling it off", he reminded the younger man. "But no one would take it, it's too outdated. It's _ours_. Using it costs us nothing, and I wasn't planning on asking for any money to buy more modern gear or schedule any events. This is just two kids who wanted to learn how to fence from me after classes. That's all."

Finally, something of a surprise- he hadn't planned on sounding quite so satisfied when he gave his explanation. Whatever the cause, it had certainly set Mattora off.

"That equipment is far too dangerous", she protested. "Using it endangers our students and promotes violence. Besides, you aren't being paid for this club. You're being paid to teach math to students. I would think that a man your age-"

Predictably, Yumika cut her off before she could really start to piss him off with more remarks about 'needing to conserve his energy at his age'. "Regardless, Mr. Umaeda, rules are rules. Unless your fencing club has four or more students, I must ask you to disband it, and restrict yourself to your regular classes."

Tetsuo Yumika, at least, knew how to cut to the chase. Umaeda had always liked that about their new principal, even if they were on opposing sides of an argument now. An argument where it looked like Yumika had just struck the coup de grace.

"Alright, fine", he said wearily. "When they come by on Saturday, I'll tell them that-"

He was cut off by a rapping on the metal frame of the door, drawing the attention of all three of them to a pair of students poised there. The pony-tailed girl looked more than a little nervous, but the older boy in the thick school jacket, whom he recognized from his brief stint as detention supervisor a week ago, looked like he had chosen this exact time to show up.

"Um... hi there", he called, oblivious to the glare he was earning from Mattora. "We heard the fencing club had started up again... can we join?"

* * *

A/N: A special thanks to all my reviewers so far. I was actually a little scared to look, knowing that I was out of practice and treading on some sensitive ground, but it looks like people are enjoying it so far.

To clarify for my first reviewer all the way back in Chapter 2, yes, that is intentional anger invoked. I wanted some antagonists on both sides of the 'gate' who are just as despicable as Persona 5's villains. Without wishing to spoil, I am also making Julian/Jiachi's character deliberately egotistical and brash in a set up for what's coming.

EDIT: Just fixing a few typos and redundant phrasings. Told you I was out of practice.


	17. Memories of the City

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

4/29 Monday

Evening

Aiko knew she must have looked stunned. She couldn't help it. A million calculations and variables were running through her head at the same time, momentarily blanking out her sensation of anything else except the dull ache in the pit of her stomach.

"Far away lands?", she managed at last, feigning confusion at the words. "Do you mean Antarctica? Australia maybe?"

Julian shrugged innocently. "Maybe. It's just something I heard about online the other day after my game was over. Thought maybe you'd know what it was."

 _Mira._ The word came to her lips and was trapped by survival instinct. _He must have been watching our chat log after the game. It's the only way he could have found out._

What now? She found herself weighing the potential dangers of revealing all they knew about Faraway Lands to him against the perils of withholding that information and risking him finding out for himself if he decided to keep pushing. The struggle must have shown in her face as well, because he suddenly looked regretful.

"Hey, easy now. Didn't realize it was something private. I get it, we've all got secrets to keep to ourselves, right?"

That only made her feel more guilty, but it made more sense to hold back for the time being. Maybe later, once she'd spoken to Mirambela and Pelagio, she might be able to safely reveal the truth to him. She hated lying, even lying with permission, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that she was going to have to lie a lot more to avoid causing even more of a panic than there already had been.

It didn't feel right. It felt like she was leading him on. But what else could be done?

"It is... something private. But knowing about it won't do anything to help Furusato-san or Noel-kun."

He shrugged. "Fine. That's all I wanted to know. So yeah, if it ends up going to trial, just text me and I'll be there. I never really knew the guy all that well, but he's definitely no murderer. I'd bet my shirt on it."

Glad to be clear of that mess, she smiled back at his enthusiasm. "It's nice to hear a second- or rather, third- opinion on that. I'll make sure I catch your next game for sure, Julian-kun."

Intended to relax him further, the statement only looked to have soured his mood, and he was suddenly pale and breathless. "Um... hey, don't push yourself or anything. We'll still see each other in the fencing club, right?"

"Right. What's wrong? I won't cheer loudly for you if you don't want me to. I know some people hate that..."

"No, no. Cheer if you want to. I just..." Taking a moment to scan the room and ensure that no one was paying attention to them, he drew closer to her, his cheeks suddenly bright.

"Uh. Look, I just want to say... I heard all about the way that you stood up for that Sorano chick when she was having problems. I didn't even know about that until I heard about it later. You... uh, well... you seem like, uh, a really nice girl, Tsuruga-chan, and I... uh, I want to see more of you, but... not just yet, okay? I've got some other stuff going on right now that can't wait. I can't get distracted right now. Sorry."

Aiko would be first to admit that she wasn't at all familiar with the way romance was supposed to work outside of various animes, but she was fairly certain that counted as a 'mixed message'. Considering that Julian was already taking on two extracurricular clubs at once on top of his schoolwork, if _he_ said that he had too much on his plate to start a relationship at the current time, with a girl he had specifically asked to have a date with, it must have been something severe.

 _Maybe he's being wiser than I am_ , she considered carefully. _I have schoolwork, fencing,_ and _the occasional trip to an alternate dimension filled with bloodthirsty monsters to deal with all at once. Getting tired out by the previous two is not going to make the Shadows take it easy on me or anything._

"...I understand, Julian-kun. I've been pretty busy myself lately, studying for exams and everything else. Hm... maybe you're not as reckless as I thought, holding back on something that you obviously want to try out for yourself. Hey... want to get together to study English later?"

Julian gave a knowing smirk. "Heh. I was wondering when you'd ask me something like that. Sorry to disappoint you, but I was born here, and my old man forbade me from learning English at home."

Her face fell. Not necessarily because of her hopes for a native English speaker capable of helping her ace that subject, but because of how transparent and presumptuous the request seemed in hindsight. "Oh. Sorry."

"But!", he raised a dexterous finger. "I've been studying it hardcore ever since I started high school. He's not the boss of me."

Hope restored, she clasped her hands. "Excellent. Maybe after that's over with, we can get together for something on Golden Week?"

Relief covered his round face and he leaned back into the cheap cushions. "Sure, I'm up for something on Golden Week. It'll be nice to work the stress out once we're done, you know?"

"Then I'll talk to you about that next week. Until then... remember to study, and not just English either. Get together with your roommate if you have to. Umaeda-sensei was very clear about our conditions."

 _Date_. The word echoed in her head once she stepped out of the restaurant. It still sounded funny. Maybe not as much as it had a few minutes earlier.

She was also confident that you didn't normally end such a thing with both sides feeling and showing immense relief that it was over. _A movie at the theater next time then... whatever he wants to watch._

Hopefully, that would feel less awkward than this had been.

* * *

4/30 Tuesday

Lunch

 _AT: hey Julian-kun, guess what I just found out?_

 _JR: ?_

 _AT: just talked to Samesaji-san. she signed up for fencing yesterday ^_^_

 _JR: swt. nice 2 have som1 else there._

 _RH: so did you two enjoy yourselves last night? :P_

 _JR: ...yes?_

 _AT: nothing happened that you want to hear about, Hayato-senpai._

 _RH: don't be so sure XD_

 _JR: okay never thought I'd be the 1 2 say this, but shouldn't you be studying?_

 _RH: i'm good. in fact I wouldn't mind taking some time to help Tsuruga study._

 _AT: i'm doing it with Mira-chan tonight._

 _RH: hehe_

 _RH: FYI, you don't need to use honoriffics when texting_

 _RH: just saying_

 _JR: meh doesn't matter_

 _JR: wait... aren't you in the SDC? with Kujou?_

 _AT: she's fine. i wouldn't give out my contact info to someone i didn't trust._

 _RH: thx. don't spread that around tho. gotta keep my cover (_)_

 _JR: ur weird_

 _RH: no u_

 _(JR has gone offline)_

* * *

4/30 Tuesday

Evening

"So that's the story", Aiko finished from amid a messy pile of notebooks and texts she'd been poring over at Mira's dogged insistence. "He's okay with letting it slide for now, and maybe he will be later on too, but... I don't know if _I_ will be."

Pelagio had stopped in at the windowsill again, a welcome presence despite being absolutely no help with studying, and now he regarded her with a practiced caution and narrowed raptor eyes that, for once, didn't seem to be driven by an innate resistance to any kind of risk to Aiko.

"You have seen for yourself, of course, that Faraway Lands is an extremely dangerous place, even to us. This Julian boy you speak of does not even possess a Persona. He would be in a great deal of danger if he were to travel there."

" _Way_ too dangerous", Mira agreed solemnly from behind a thick history textbook. "Besides, what would knowing about it get him? Do you plan on telling everyone at school about it?"

"No", Aiko sounded almost insulted by the suggestion. "They'd never believe me."

Briefly considering the idea further as an experiment, she shook her head. "Then there's the danger that some people actually _would_ , and try it for themselves. It just sucks that I can't tell him anything at all about it. Kind of a conversation stopper, really. But I know that if I tell him, he'll want to see it with his own eyes, and _then_ he'll blab to someone else about it, and so on, and so on..."

She'd faced down Shadows larger than humans. But that revelation was a chain of events that even she was too scared to risk setting off.

"He does not seem like the type you would wish to bond with, regardless", Pelagio argued from his perch on the window. "Such blithe arrogance often conceals darker truths within."

Annoyed, Aiko stood up and glared at him. "Oh I'm sorry, _who_ was it that admitted to me just the other day that they don't know very much about humans? Don't insult him until you know him. Who knows? He might even get a Persona if we bring him in there. Under our protection, of course."

"Unlikely", Pelagio chirped without retreating. "As we have previously discussed, the type of human who is capable of facing their own Shadow and accepting their suppressed feelings is quite unique. Judging by what you have told us of his behavior, I would consider such a possibility to be minimal at best."

"It's too risky, Ai-chan", Mira seconded, pointing to her notes. "Besides, we agreed not to talk about this stuff any more until midterms are over, right?"

That seemed to be the final nail, and they returned to their studies until the time came to sleep.

* * *

5/1 Wednesday

After School

The man at the counter of the Starlight diner wore old-fashioned black slacks, but Aiko didn't peg him as the same one who had taken her order weeks ago until she saw a cautious curiosity creep into his flat-chinned face.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"No", she threw on her best, most confident smile, making sure to keep her eyes wide and alert-looking. "But maybe I can help you. You're hiring, right? 'Kitchen and server staff for Golden Week, flexible hours'?"

The man made a face. " _Knew_ I shouldn't have let Otegi make the fliers... Look, girly, I respect that you're interested in earning some money between classes, but the Starlight holds to a certain level of professionalism that I doubt a kid your age could manage."

She hesitated over that for a moment, trying to plot a new course. She hadn't expected a flat denial, not with the rumors she'd heard about how crazy Golden Week got for restaurants, whether they were outdoor or indoor, chain or independent.

Remembering how she had spoken to Mr. Umaeda when they first met, she gestured at the building. The Starlight only used the first floor of the structure, yielding the rest as rooms for rent, but it was still large enough to contain a large kitchen and a meat locker, as well as a lounge area for staff not on duty. The smells coming from there were strong enough that she was surprised more people weren't hanging around outside the counter window, or perhaps the owner discouraged that.

"But you didn't post an age requirement on the sign. You don't know if I can do what you need until I try, right?"

Scraping globules of sweat from the brow beneath his bandana, he shook his head. "But I know your type. You'll quit the instant it gets rough. We're expecting nearly six hundred customers per day next week, maybe more. Think you can keep up with that many orders? If you drop food on the ground when you're bringing it to their tables, it comes out of your salary. Oh, and no phones during work hours."

He looked triumphant, arms folded, expecting that last ruling to defeat her. It wasn't just the kitchen she was smelling, she realized. Working in that enclosed space for hours at a time let the smell of the food seep into the man's clothes as well. Fortunately, it was a good smell, some mixture of tomato and salmon juice. Naturally the place placed an emphasis on seafood, but also possessed many other options.

"...I'm good with all that." _I have Jack Frost, Anne Bonny, Onkot and Lilim in my head._ _Two weeks ago I walked along a one-foot wide pole across a gaping chasm without falling once. You think that's going to scare me?_

The man made an exasperated noise. "Look, I'm sorry but I just can't take that chance. Otegi should have mentioned that we need people who have experience in a high-pressure work environment. His fault, not yours."

Despite his words, he was looking more sympathetic now, running a dark brown eye along the main street towards the other stores. "If you're really interested in getting some work more suited to you, there's an Ema Muller's down the road from here near the town hall. They're always looking for people like you."

Aiko felt a frown creeping into her carefully-rehearsed expression. She knew about Ema Muller's. There were _two_ of those Akihabara, and she'd even eaten there once.

Muller's was a 'maid cafe'. It exclusively hired young, attractive girls and made them wear maid outifts, as well as cultivating a number of certain mannerisms and behavior that appealed to their main clientele. Until she was around fourteen years old, she'd considered it a mere coincidence that you never saw the same servers there twice.

Then she'd met Misa, a girl who had served there, and the stories she'd told had tarnished her perception of it. Working at an Ema Muller's, she'd been told, was a race to see what would get you terminated first- a brief loss of temper at a customer trying to look up your skirt or measure your socks, or your youthful energy and attractiveness fading in the estimate of the head managers.

For Misa, it had been the latter. The only nice thing she'd had to say was that they paid above minimum wage, though that hardly compensated for everything else in her opinion.

The concept of working there in itself wasn't so offensive to her, she realized. It was clearly a successful business model judging by the number of imitators, and it was considered as 'respectable' as any other part-time job. It might even be _fun_ , acting the role, pretending to be a clumsy, demure maid... for a while at least. Rather, it was the none too subtle suggestion that it was the only type of work that she was suited for, that she wouldn't be able to find work anywhere unless she traded on her looks.

But getting upset at the person who suggested it wouldn't get her anywhere. _I'm already 'Aiko the Psycho' at school, no need to earn the same thing in the city._

 _The backup plan, then._

Sticking to the window even as the man went out to help serve some orders, she waited until he returned to point across the city block to a large, unattached structure that stood out from the generic tenements and small stores around it despite being only two floors high just like the Starlight. A large bronze statue of some God or Goddess grasping at the sky made it look bigger than it was. Though its lights were not on in the daytime, the crisscrossing neon bars and fancy architectural style covering the front made it easy to imagine how bright it would be at night.

"What about that place? They look like they're going to be busy as well."

The owner of the Starlight looked like she'd just suggested that she was going to go take a swan dive from Cape Ashizuri. Instead of annoyance, she now felt genuine concern radiating off of his paled skin.

"That's... not a good idea. Someone your age has no place being there, particularly as an employee."

"Oh?", she asked mock-innocently. "And Ema Muller's is better?"

He growled. "I'm telling you this for your own good, girl. I've been here for years and I can tell you now, the Karma Club is nothing but bad news. That punk Samesaji can pretty it up however he likes, but people who live here know there's more going on in that place than they'll ever admit. Stay away from there."

 _Karma._ The title stopped her just as abruptly as it had the owner, thought for different reasons.

 _For protection from Kujou ####### KARMA._

 _Coincidence?_ It was a common enough term. There had been a collector's shop in Akihabara called Karma as well. _Can't find out for sure just from the outside._

Unfortunately, getting inside during the day wasn't a likely proposition either. The two big black metal doors at the entrance looked like they could repel a car crash, not opening until after dark.

Then the other familiar word caught up with her, and she stared back at the owner. "Samesaji-san?" _Kotone? She did say something about a brother who worked in the city..._

The man snorted in disgust. "Ryuken Samesaji. Their main promoter and recruiter. He talks to girls- girls older than you- into trying out at that club. The poor saps only see his pretty face, never realizing what they're really walking into. Sometimes I feel like giving that bastard a good scar, just so he can't charm girls into abandoning their common sense any more... or at least as easily."

 _That would probably have the opposite effect you wanted,_ the words emerged but didn't leave her lips. _Does Kotone know? Or is this guy just jealous of Karma getting more customers and making stuff up?_

Regardless, those curiosities didn't stop her from recognizing that she'd been handed a weapon. She smiled dreamily, glancing back at the expensive-looking statue adorning the club's front like it was the answer to all her woes.

"I'll be careful around him then. But they pay way more than minimum wage, don't they? I mean, if there's _really_ nowhere else in the city that you think I could find a part-time job..."

While the man's eyes narrowed in shrewd comprehension of what she was doing, his fear of Karma clearly outweighed that. _He's definitely not lying about his suspicions at least._

"Please, don't. If that's really the choice you're making, then I suppose we can give you a chance. A _chance,_ mind you", he emphasized sourly. "If I catch you violating the sanitation rules or insulting our customers once, you're out, and I'll send Karma a letter warning them about hiring you. Whatever I have to do to stop you from going there."

She decided to be gracious in victory. She made a show of being beyond words with gratitude that the man was giving her a shot, all the while wondering what the novice recruiter 'Otegi' looked like. _And what this Ryuken Samesaji looks like. The Karma Club, huh..._

Its tinted, rectangle windows revealed nothing. There was certainly an upscale atmosphere to it compared to most of the places in Tosashimizu, but she didn't get the feeling that it was the kind of place that teenage boys would very carefully sneak out of the house to visit.

 _Hope I'm not wrong about that part._

If she investigated that place only to find out it was a parlor like the kind that dominated the nightlife in Shinjuku, she would be extremely disappointed.

Banishing all thoughts of investigation for the time being, she stretched out a hand. "Thank you. I'm Aiko Tsuruga. I promise you won't be sorry."

"Ooka Matoba", the bandana man reciprocated, shaking with a strong grip. "Call me 'Boss', or 'Mr. Matoba'. And don't worry. If I am sorry, it won't be for very long. You start Tuesday next week at 4. Otegi will show you the ropes. Don't be late."

 _Mission accomplished,_ she thought to herself. _Cape Ashizuri, here we come._

* * *

5/1 Wednesday

Evening

"What's it like?"

Lacking any other context, the question produced exactly the reaction she was hoping for in Mirambela, who snapped out of her study induced daze to look at her with confusion. "Pardon?"

"In your village. Your homeland."

The older girl's lips twisted in amusement and she rolled off the bed into a seat position. "I was wondering if papa told you anything about it. You saw my Land, right?"

"Yea, but that was your _Land_ ", Aiko reminded her, showing only scorn for that gaudy place. "A twisted cognition of the home you _thought_ you wanted. That was _not_ your real home. I'm pretty sure that your real home doesn't have robot servants, and all the buildings aren't metal."

She laughed at that. A good sign after what she'd been through.

"Well, you're right about that. But neither are we savages. We have books and food and television, and clean water from a well. There are more modern cities there too, but we chose to live in the village. A few of my siblings went into the city to find jobs... but the pickings are slim."

Aiko frowned, remembering her earlier talks with Mr. Sorano. "Your dad seems like he wants what's best for all of you. Why do you stay there?"

Mira stuck a finger to her mouth, processing how to best give the answer. "It's complicated. I guess the best answer would be that even as my father wishes to give us the benefits of the modern world, he fears the corruption that comes with it."

Breaking out her phone, she brought up her stored photos, which to Aiko's surprise were enough to take up a good chunk of the device's available memory. It wasn't just photos of the brothers and sisters she had described either, but other people from the village looking happy as well, as well as a few nature shots.

"I won't ever claim it's a paradise, Ai-chan. You have to earn your keep there, and the diseases and predators are just _awful_ compared to the city. But that's just it. If you work hard, you can stay. You don't have someone charging you rent for your own home, or spend your nights terrified that someone might rob or murder you in your sleep. If predators attacked- and they've never done it while I lived- they'd get chased off by us. We all work together to survive, because that is the way of our village. My father isn't even the leader, but he is respected enough that people generally listen to what he says."

"It's... not something I'd ever considered", Aiko confessed uncomfortably. "I thought they were just..."

Mira nodded understandingly. "Yes. Most people think we must be mad savages, to forego the internet and have little in the way of television programming. But there is a sense of community there I have never seen here in Japan. We're not even the only village either; there was a time when I was asked to help make a water delivery to distant Umoja village. That's a village where no men are allowed."

Her eyebrow shot up. "Whoa, seriously? That's an actual thing? I thought that only happened in comic books."

Mira shook her head, still amused by the memory of it. "I was amazed when I got there, but they seemed content with it. Most of the people there are the victims of wicked men in some form. I guess everyone has their own preferred way they want to live... though I would never give up my dear brothers and my papa for all the riches in the world."

"I hear you. I mean, sometimes guys piss me off, but just think of all the awesome ones. Takao-sensei and Umaeda-sensei. Pela-tori. Julian-kun and Noel-kun. Shu-kun, when he's not being a jerk. Bart-kun. Rurichiyo-san. Captain Byzael."

"Byzael?", Mira repeated cautiously. "That's the old fisherman you visit at the coast sometimes, right?"

"Yup. And he's not _that_ old. He promised to give me his boat if I let him teach me how to use it."

Mira paused, eyes widening. "You're joking. Or he is."

She leaned back into her bed and smirked. "That's just what I thought too, until he showed me the documents of legal ownership of the Fiddler's Green once I turn 18. Made a copy for me to keep too, in case something happens. All that's left is for him to sign it."

"So you will own your own ship, both here and in Faraway Lands", Mira said slowly. "Incredible. It might still be a trick, though. Legal ownership in the modern world is far too complex for any but a few people to understand."

"I know", she took a moment to read her copy of the document, wondering if the wording there had changed since her last check, or if she had missed something crucial last time. "But I do trust him, Mira-chan. He had every chance to do something bad, but he didn't. All he did so far was help me learn to run the boat and give me an old book as a present."

Seeing her point to the aforementioned book, Mira's gaze strayed to the window and the coastline beyond the hills there, wondering if the man was there today. "You really like him, don't you Ai-chan? I mean, not romantically, obviously."

She could only spread her arms helplessly. "Yeah. I do. I've met a lot of really crappy adults in my life, but he's not one of them. He makes me feel like I'm wanted. Like he's actually considering the things I say to him instead of blowing me off because I'm young. He shows me new things all the time, useful things. I know it's weird. Pela-tori actually attacked him while we were trying to rescue you, thinking he was up to something."

"That sounds like him", Mira agreed with a smile. "Pelagio, I mean. My father went through a phase like that where he wouldn't let any of us go to the city at all, he was so afraid that we'd get mugged or worse."

"Huh." Stretching out over the bed, she joined Mira at the window. It looked like the start of rain outside, but the waters before them remained sedate and safe, and she felt a warm hand unconsciously feeling its way into hers and clasping. "Mira-chan... When the school year's over, I'd like to come and visit your village. I want to meet your family, for real."

"That will be difficult", Mira sighed, her warm hand tightening. "They're a long way away. But we do have plenty of time to plan." As the rain began to plink away at the dorm roof, she turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey... Who's Bart-kun?"

* * *

5/2 Thursday

After School

This 'date' was different. Her partner was a far cry from normality, yet she somehow felt more relaxed than on Monday.

If anything, she should have felt more on edge about someone stopping them and asking questions, but something about Bartholomew's poise made her believe he had made plans for that already. Because his normal attendant's garb would attract unwanted attention, he had transformed it into a thin-lapel jacket and pants of the same dark blue color. The butterfly had disappeared from his eye patch, making it slightly less conspicuous. Only slightly.

So she had chosen a place where such a sight might be regarded with more curiosity than suspicion, and a place that he might like. The arcade buried in underground part of the Tenjincho mall was an even match for any in Tokyo in terms of bright flashing lights and noise, and the few kids there who bothered paying attention to them merely believed it was a costume. His single eye, previously a garish poison yellow, had transmuted to a more normal brown color that went well with his hair.

"I must admit, this is an experience I never partook of before now", Bartholomew had to raise his voice to be heard. "No wonder so many children of your generation have poor attention spans, if _this_ is what they prefer."

"Mostly guys", Aiko pointed out mock-innocently. "Wanna try a game? C'mon, let's go find something with two-player mode!"

Approximately eight hundred and fifty dead bad guys later, they were out on a bench near the main fountain in the grand hall. Amusingly, the sign that warned people not to toss coins in had fallen over, and no efforts to pick it up seemed forthcoming.

"You're good", Aiko remarked over the plop of their coins. "Even better than _me_. For someone who said they've never visited an arcade before. Let me guess... you've got home consoles in the Velvet room to train on? Did Mr. Igor buy them for you?"

The attendant chuckled lightly at her suggestion. "No, no, nothing of the sort. As you have seen for yourself, electronic devices such as phones do not work properly in that world. I merely learned the patterns of the enemy movements and adjusted my plan of attack accordingly. A simple task for me."

"You sound like Shu-kun. He could probably be a pro gamer if he tried." Turning from the fountain as if expecting him to appear, she only saw the afternoon crowd, a randomized mass of anonymous humanity desperate to be somewhere else, all of them moving in different directions.

Tokyo had dozens of malls this size and above, but with the curved glass ceiling above this one still gave the impression of being vast. If she closed her eyes, it felt like she was back there, in Akihabara. "He could probably be a lot of things, if he tried."

"Not everyone is as outgoing as yourself, dream- I mean, Tsuruga-san", Bartholomew corrected himself hastily, remembering their earlier talk. "In all honesty, I was never very much of a social butterfly either. Perhaps this Shukiji Niyoga simply desires his privacy, as I do."

"Maybe", she considered. "I've never seen anyone like him, with his memory, and..." her face turned down to the linoleum floor. "And maybe that's why he prefers to be alone. Imagine if you could perfectly remember everything anyone's ever said to you, and every stupid thing you've ever done or said to them."

"I do have an excellent memory for detail", he said, trying to sound more cheerful about it. It went well with his honeyed face and sandy hair even if it felt somewhat faked, as if he was trying to force himself to remember how to be happy.

"Though hardly perfect like that boy, I was able to research and memorize the trials of all the previous wild cards and Persona-users throughout history, in order to better help you in your own journey."

That rocked her, and she turned back to the fountain so as not to freak anyone out with her face. " _Other_ Persona-users? You mean this isn't the first time something like this has happened?!"

"You were not listening to the master's words earlier, or else you forgot", Bartholomew remarked chidingly. "But yes, dream v- Tsuruga-san. This is far from the first time. Have you ever heard of... Apathy syndrome? What about the Kirijo group scandal?"

 _Apathy... The Kirijo group...?_ She stared into the fountain water, and the coins scattered beneath the surface. Like with the calamity father Shigetsu had mentioned, it felt like a memory that had run away from her when she wasn't looking. "I know about the Kirijo group, but I didn't hear anything about a scandal."

"Most likely because the incident happened before you were born", the attendant provided patiently. "The Kirijo financial group's power and prestige were sharply reduced because of it, but they do still exist, trying to slowly regain it through more legitimate methods."

Aiko stared back, remembering the handful of news stories about that particular financial group. "They committed a crime? That's hardly new."

"The nature of their crime is what made it different", Bartholomew told her. "Thousands of people experienced traumatic hallucinations back then, which was blamed on chemical leaks caused by a lack of safety precautions taken by Kirijo."

Her attention fully caught now, he raised one dark-gloved hand, which Aiko noticed for the first time perfectly contrasted with the color of Igor's gloves.

"Except that was merely a cover story. The real truth of it is that thousands of people truly did experience what they saw back then. An eldritch tower springing up from Gekkoukan high school at Tatsumi Port Island on the stroke of midnight. Streets lined with coffins and awash with blood. An enormous moon descending from above to bring about the world's long wished-for end."

It was a lot to process, even for someone who had already accepted all the insanity of Faraway Lands. But Aiko knew that Bartholomew wasn't the type to spin such a bizarre story purely for his own amusement. If he said it had happened in the distant past, then it probably had, and she was in no position to challenge his authority on this.

"That massive tower", he continued mirthlessly, "was called Tartarus, the manifestation of humanity's unconscious desire to die. As I have said, its form changes with each incarnation, but some factors are common throughout... such as the presence of Shadows."

"A tower of _Shadows_ ", Aiko repeated in complete awe. "Instead of an ocean. The Kirijo group caused _that_?"

"Indirectly", he admitted, sniffing the air. "All the ones responsible for it are long dead. But what truly matters is what happened after. Seeking to undo their mistake, some concerned individuals within the Kirijo group gathered gifted Persona-users to challenge the moonlit tower and undo its pull over humanity's hearts. This team, thus assembled, found themselves led into conflict with several rogue Persona-users in addition to Shadows- the online assassins called Strega."

She tensed up, flashing back to an old memory. "I've heard of _them_. Or at least their website. Back when they were operational, you would enter the name of the person you want to die, and..."

"And they would die in the night, yes. Strega would abuse the power of the 'Dark Hour' to slay their targets while they slept. However, their ultimate goal was not wanton murder, but the summoning of the Night Queen- the God of Death, Nyx."

She shivered at her imagination's best illustration of such an ominous title and those who sought it, though the image was surely far away from the real horror of that event. _Glad I wasn't around then to enter anyone's name on that site... or have someone do that to me._

 _Would I...? No. I can't believe that. I would never enter Kujou's name in that website._

Sensing her trepidation, the attendant continued on. "The young Persona users gathered by the Kirijo group eventually triumphed over this calamity as well, though only through the willing sacrifice of their strongest member... their wild card."

"Sacrifice", she whispered tearfully, unable to look into his eyes any longer. "I can't imagine..."

Then there was a glove nestled against her chin, forcing her gaze back up out of that dark place he'd sensed her falling into.

"Fear not. The wild cards who followed after that one were not required to give up their lives in such a way. It was only when the situation had escalated to the point that all of humanity's demise was the alternative that the Great Seal became a necessity. I do hope that such a dire circumstance does not occur this time... you have fared admirably thus far."

She forced a brave smile. It wasn't like she hadn't come to grips with the chance of dying before now, but only a fool would claim that they didn't fear the Reaper.

"Thanks, Bart-kun. I'll keep trying my best. That's why I wanted to do this here, actually. Mira-chan wants to just study for the rest of the week, but I can't get what I've seen in the last two weeks out of my head. Faraway Lands is still out there, and I believe in Mr. Igor when he says that we'll need to go back there and fight again."

"You will", he promised sympathetically. "My master always knows of what he speaks. Whatever distant power has orchestrated the sunlight gate between worlds will not rest merely because one wayward soul has escaped from its grasp. It will continue to steer humanity's group consciousness ever further towards the world's regression, preying upon its ability to feel despair for the future and its desires for change."

She became still in his arms, oddly calm for everything she'd just heard. "Then we'll just have to stop it. Even if it's the Death God again, we'll stop it."

"Somehow", the attendant remarked, looking truly relaxed for the first time since leaving the arcade. "I don't doubt that. I will be waiting in the Velvet room if you wish to hear more about your predecessors... and I can promise you that the story of the Midnight Channel is not nearly so grim."

* * *

5/2 Thursday

Lunch

Kotone was eating alone today. Aiko might have taken that as a sign that now was the time to ask if it hadn't still been more difficult to get her body to move over to the table than it had been to cajole the Starlight restaurant owner.

 _Chin up, face forward. She's a friend. The worst thing that can happen is she gets offended. Offenses can fade. The one I gave Mira did._

"So", she said nonchalantly, trying not to tip off the real purpose of this chat. "I hear you joined the fencing club with Rurichiyo-kun. I appreciate it."

The ponytailed girl's shy smile might have been more convincing if it hadn't appeared so abruptly from a downcast expression focused on nothing. "Um... thanks, Tsuruga-chan. I heard you and Rosea-kun were into it, and so I thought..."

Leaning forward, she nodded back, studying both expression and posture. While not as close as Mirambela or as passionate about certain things as Reiha was, Kotone was perhaps the only one who had approached her of her own accord, who didn't treat her like a freak. If 'normal' could be considered a definable term, then she was the closest one to 'normal'.

"What you probably didn't know is that with just two students, we were going to get disbanded pretty soon. Umaeda-sensei cut us some slack there, but he told me what happened. So, whatever your reasons, thank you."

She stared back down into her lunch. "Rurichiyo-kun suggested it. He said you had to do a lot of pushing to get it to happen."

Suggesting that he had only joined to be near Aiko. That he was interested by her, and maybe he was... but underestimating herself all the same.

"He's right", Aiko admitted, shrugging casually. "I was hoping to get on a swim team, but we know how _that_ turned out. Soccer's not really my thing, and I've never tried Shogi. I had to do _something_."

"What about the debate team? You managed to convince Umaeda-sensei to start his club up again. You even stood up to Kujou-san."

"Eh... Not really what I was hoping for." She'd already had enough hard ethical arguments with Bartholomew and Pelagio without adding more on top of that. "Besides, I think one club is enough. Can't go too far while also keeping my grades up. Unless someone opens a face-painting club, that is."

Kotone giggled, her gloom finally pierced. "I'll keep that in mind then."

 _A shame to bring the mood back down. Oh well, here goes._ "Say... I was in the city the other day, and I heard about a recruiter for a nightclub named Ryuken Samesaji."

The fact that she was partly expecting the gloom to return with interest did nothing to soothe her heart over the sight of it, Kotone withdrawing even further inwards than before. "Oh... oh, yes. He's my brother."

Aiko didn't need to reply. The instinctive look on her face was enough to suggest what sort of other inquiries might follow, and Kotone sighed deeply.

"And I know, he works in a club with a... colorful reputation. But, he says it's fine. So it must be fine."

She nodded gently, not wanting to challenge the denial openly. "The Karma Club. Open only at night, so my first thought was that it catered to vampires."

It was a horrible joke but it did its job, lightening the mood enough that Kotone felt comfortable opening up about it.

"I-I snuck in once, when Nii-san had to go pick up some things. The people there wear these masks, and... there was something weird about them. And the owner of the club, she wears one too." Casting her head back helplessly, she palmed her head. With her other hand she brought up her phone, which Aiko saw had a picture of a young, dark-haired man who she assumed was Ryuken on it. As Boss had told her, he looked like the very definition of a mid-twenties heartthrob, especially because he was smiling in this picture, showing bright teeth. A strangely-shaped metal earring and a beauty mark on his cheek completed the effect.

"Ryuken... Nii-san says that he's working there for _me_. To get the money to put me through college. I wish I had the courage to tell him that I don't care about that if he has to work that kind of job, but... he won't listen to me. He says he likes working there. He says..."

She stopped, buttoning up as Aiko had expected after a certain amount of time. It was enough. Enough for her to realize something else.

"Please, Tsuruga-chan. You can't... I mean..."

She spread both shoulders as if bracing for a mortal blow. "Go ahead." _Can't be any worse than the things I see put on my locker. She's too nice for that. Nicer than me._

 _Too nice for this place._

Composing herself, Kotone shook her head, the tail following behind. "I don't want to be rude, but... you have this, well... this _thing_ where you feel like you need to get involved in other people's problems and try to help them."

Careful as ever, she immediately threw up her arms in defense against an imagined reprisal. "N-n-not that that's a bad thing! No, I think that's a wonderful trait to have. I wish I could be brave and strong like you, defending my friends. But..."

"But?"

Her eyes lowered back into despair and self-recrimination. "If Nii-san finds out that I told you any of this, he'll be so angry with me. He told me, but made me promise to keep it a secret."

Leaning back, she studied the picture of the elder Samesaji again. He was not only a handsome one, but also athletic-looking, much more than the younger Julian. It wasn't difficult to imagine him turning that lean muscle to effective violence if he was pushed.

 _And if I were a bit older, I'd probably be swooning over him right now._

"Yet you told me anyway", she replied encouragingly. "You broke that promise. Deep down, you want someone or something to stop him, so you don't have to worry any more."

"Yes", Kotone quavered, unable to look up. "I want that. But... please don't. Don't go to the police, and don't investigate him yourself. If this is what he really wants to do, then I don't want to ruin it for him."

 _That_ , Aiko knew, _would depend on what exactly he's doing._ She understood honoring family, but only to an extent.

"He's... Nii-san is the only one I have left."

"That's why you were at that temple, with father Shigetsu", Aiko gave voice to the suspicion. "Not just for Noel-kun."

"Yes", she said breathlessly, staring out the window into the main courtyard. "I pray for both of them."

* * *

5/2 Thursday

Evening

Tosashimizu city looked very different at night, at least when looked at from above. Pelagio figured he had a unique perspective on such places, compared to humans.

Various bright lights festooned the buildings, though not as exaggeratedly as with Mira's Land. That was something of a relief, since those lights had hurt his sensitive eyes when he was there. Of course, he would never have bothered his charge with such trivial complaints.

The lights were even less crowded around the large chunk of the city covered in the dull warehouses, but only a handful of humans frequented it now. Perching with wings folded on the spire of a bank gave him a position to watch both that and the more lively area around the mall and marketplace, his ears able to pick up scattered bits of human speech from miles around.

 _Humans. So contradictory. So diverse. So obscene. There are vile fiends here worse than Shadows, and yet others demonstrate acts of unabashed kindness. My lady was correct. There is much that I must learn of them in order to fully understand... while also attending to my duties, of course._

 _Tokyo seems to be a common item for general discussion_ , he considered. _That is apparently a luxurious city a great many times larger and more populated than Tosashimizu city, located far north of here, across the water. I could fly there to behold it for myself, but such a journey would take several days. I should wait to ask my lady's permission first. Duty takes priority, after all._

More noise wafted up to him as he considered the prospect. The rumble of bus motors, the bubbling of kettles, endless chatter not unlike Koashimizu's student body-

And then there was the scream.

The scream was from deep into the warehouse district, and few humans would hear it acutely. Gliding over to the source, he happened upon a scene of violence in one of the narrow corridors created by the proximity of the tall warehouses.

Several bundles of a strange-smelling plant extract were littered about, having been dropped by the two young men in jackets currently sprawled on the concrete and writhing in pain. Such jackets seemed to be common fashion among the people who worked in the warehouses at night, but the real standout was the figure who had attacked them.

Moderately tall and clad head to toe in black, the figure was in the process of wrenching a switchblade knife out of one of the men's hands before performing a rapid hand motion that left it broken and unable to open properly. That spurred a fresh surge of anger from the weapon's owner, who shouted and rose only to be knocked back down by the figure's dark glove as it shot out. Very deliberately, the attacker's heavy black boot slammed down on the young man's stray hand, prompting a second scream.

The figure's mask was the same as he had seen in the news story on room 22's television, down to the X-branded mask. Hex put his other boot down on several of the plant extract to crush them as well before speaking in a deep voice simmering with rage even while muffled by his mask.

"This can end now, or become a night that will wake you up screaming for the next year and change. It all depends on what you're willing to tell me. Who organized this? Was it Gurimoto?!"

The young man began to suggest something anatomically improbable, but couldn't finish before the boot pressed down harder on his hand.

"Losing my patience." The masked attacker turned his head to the other jacketed man. "How much pain are you willing to allow your friend to go through? Just tell me who put you up to this."

"Y-yeah...", the other one mumbled at last, teeth clenched through past pain. "Look, we took orders from this old dude who called himself Enmikeda. That's all I know, honest!"

The words seemed to temporarily freeze Hex up before his stance betrayed further rage. "Kotone... damn. Alright, you two stay the hell away from him from now on. If he comes to you, tell him that I know where he lives."

He ran then, leaving Pelagio feeling a rare sensation- internal conflict. He had stood up for Hex earlier while the two girls he had become friends with disparaged his activities after dark. In his estimation, humanity was badly in need of such a person to punish the evil ones among them, and Aiko had been reluctant to do that outside of Faraway Lands.

But now, seeing up close the brutality of it, he was no longer sure what to think.

One thing he knew he could do was follow after the masked man, gliding across buildings that he was forced to run around. The human was a fast runner, but there was no way they would be able to elude a falcon with human-level intelligence.

 _Intelligence superior to humans,_ he quickly corrected himself.

Then his beak released a curse as the masked man ducked into an alley and opened a decrepit-looking wooden door. The building looked to be of similar shape with no sign of habitation, all the windows that he might have used to eavesdrop or enter firmly boarded up.

He repeated the same thing several hours of stakeout later, as the night wore on, his eyes became heavy and he realized that no one was going to be coming out of that building any time soon.

 _You win, Hex_ , he thought bitterly at the masked attacker. _This time._

* * *

A/N: I've noticed that my chapters have been getting progressively shorter as my 'buffer' thins, so here's a longer one while I build back up to a 'safe' level.

While I do try to sprinkle in main plot references and 'social links' whenever possible, following every single step of the MC's high school life would be rather boring and repetitive. You can assume that any time that is not covered by the narration is being spent by her on building 'stats', attending class or working part-time ;)


	18. Memories of the School

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/3 Friday

After School

The sun shone bright across fresh-cut grass as a stampede of jersey-wearing players crushed it underfoot. The cheers of the crowds covering both ends of the field surely must have reached as far as the student dorms, to the point that they would occasionally interfere with coach Kurikado's piercing whistle.

The only thing missing from this detailed display of athleticism was Julian Rosea. There were ten boys and four girls playing out there on the Koashimizu home team, but he wasn't one of them.

Fortunately, Aiko seemed to be the only one who cared, and his absence could only interfere with her ability to enjoy the game to a certain degree. Not that she was any kind of expert, having only watched a few games on TV, but it was simple enough to understand that their team was doing well- three goals so far against a single one from the opposition. No one was looking tired.

There was one more as she did the courteous thing and watched the game wind down, hoping to find a distraction from her own anxiety. _Maybe he's sick. Maybe he just wound up with the flu and is sitting this game out. Maybe he's really actually taking exams seriously and is using this time to study up._

 _Maybe I'll see him tomorrow in fencing._

She must have looked truly morose, because a shaggy-haired boy from the sidelines marched over to her. "Hey, what's wrong? They're kickin' butt out there."

Forcing a smile, she turned to him. "Oh no, it's nothing. Just wondering about something. Are you friends with someone on the team?"

He shrugged, taking a spot beside her. "Nah, I just like to watch the team play. I used to be into it, but... never mind."

The quiver in his words suggested more than what he was willing to reveal at this time, but she felt no need to pry. Julian's absence was mystery enough today.

"...I understand. We all have our private things."

Luckily, he didn't seem to mind. "It's cool. The less people notice it, the happier I am. I'm Yuuichi Tenrii, you?"

"A-Aiko Tsuruga." Forcing her gaze away from the Julian-less field, she studied the boy's face instead. He was tall and lean, with an unkempt energy about him that inevitably reminded her of Julian. Wide brown eyes seemed to be sizing her up the same way. "First year."

She winced at that statement, blurted out only to fill the empty air with something, but Yuuichi didn't seem to mind. "Yeah, it's pretty scary when you're starting out. I heard all about those disappearances too. Crazy stuff, right?"

"That's... one way of putting it", she muttered as the Koashimizu team took its first called penalty, to the verbal dismay of several in the crowd. Yuuichi stayed quiet however. "My roommate was the second disappearance."

The shock diverted him from the game. "Seriously? Wow. Any idea where she went to?"

 _Gah. Still hate lying._ "She said she ran away. Do you know why?"

His smile faded into a more serious line. "Please. Every student here knows why. I bet there's a good number of them who wish she'd stayed gone. Assholes."

The involuntary look that came over her said that needed to be said on _that_ subject.

"If Furusato-san hadn't been the first disappearance", he continued on carefully, "I'd say it was some kind of nasty prank, like maybe locking them up somewhere. But I suppose it could always be unrelated. Hopefully, it stops here. I don't think the school's reputation can take much more."

"It's a reputation well-earned", she replied harshly. She hadn't forgotten everything she'd witnessed here in the past month. There was a lot of good here, but also a lot of bad that she still couldn't quite believe principal Yumika hadn't addressed. "Or haven't you heard about what's happening to Vitienne-kun now?"

"Rumors", he said, letting that single word explain so much about his tone of absent neutrality. "He and Furusato-san were tight last year. I wonder what happened."

Another goal, this one from the opposition, cut into his ruminating. "But enough of that. We came here to have fun, right?"

"Y-yeah", she gave up quietly. Now wasn't the time to discuss Noel, no matter how much his current situation made her sick to her stomach. _We could search Faraway Lands to find Ayano-san's Land, and learn the real truth from her... but we have no idea where it is or what it looks like. It will take days of exploration to find it at least, and I promised Mira that I wouldn't do anything more related to that until after exams are over._

She weighed these factors carefully as the game drew to a more subdued finale, making a mental note to ask Pelagio if he'd ever seen anyone who looked like Ayano during his time there, or a Land that had anything to do with Noel or school.

Yuuichi shook his head longingly at the final whistle. "Still makes me wish I could be out there too, but it's nice to see another typical Kurikado team this year."

"A Kurikado team?" It was easy to spot the balding, heavyset team coach by his forest green jacket and the katakana symbol on his cap, but she hadn't heard much about the man's reputation, only that Julian disliked him for some reason.

"Yeah, that's kind of his trademark even when he was back coaching at Seika Junior high. Here, I'll introduce you."

She didn't want to object, because that had been her next planned action anyway. This just made it easier, approaching a strange adult with someone who already knew him. The man seemed jolly as well, sprinkling compliments and constructive criticism among his team as they departed.

" _Heeey! Ten-point_!", he called out with a broad smile once they were near. "I heard about what happened. It's a damn shame, and I'd be happy to make up some kind of position for you to follow us if you like. Official water boy. Official vice coach. Somethin' like that."

Yuuichi chuckled. "Appreciated, coach, but I'm fine just being another bystander until I can get back in the game next year."

That caught the man off guard. "Tenrii... You sure you'll be ready by next year?", he asked doubtfully, trying not to stare at him for too long. "I mean, this kind of thing is not something you want to rush, take it from a guy who's seen every sports injury under the sun-"

"I'll be ready", he said much more firmly, an edge creeping into his voice now. "I'll make sure of it."

Sliding back to his usual casual manner, he gestured to Aiko. "Besides, it gives me time to meet new people. This is Aiko Tsuruga. I think she wanted to ask you about something?"

Mr. Kurikado regarded her more distantly than Yuuichi. "If you're looking for a slot on the team, I'm afraid the tryouts are long over, miss."

"No, no", she corrected him hastily. "I'm already on a team. I just wanted to know... where is Julian-kun? Is he sick?"

The name struck the man as unfamiliar for a moment, then recognition dawned and gazed back sadly. "Julian? We don't have a Juli- Ohhh, you mean Jiachi Rosea, right? Yeah, he tried out... but he had the same problem as last year. No team spirit. I know he's good, but as Ten-point here will tell you, I prefer a cooperative team who support each other. The kid's a glory hound, sorry to say."

She must have looked distraught, because Yuuichi suddenly looked like he was about to rush in and grab her before she fell. She didn't, though.

"That... that can't be right. He said he was on the team! I came out to see him!"

The coach spread his large hands helplessly. "Well, he's not on _my_ team. Not this year. Maybe next time?"

"Maybe next time", Yuuichi echoed, walking her off the field before the coach could get any more concerned. More, he seemed embarrassed by how much Kurikado praised him, causing her to wonder if he'd earned the nickname 'Ten-Point' by the obvious way, or some other method. "You okay, Tsuruga? You look beat."

"I'm fine", she said, brushing one hand along her hair as if trying to generate enough breeze to chase away a fever. "It's just kind of hot out today."

"No arguments there. But, uh, Jiachi... were you expecting him to be here?"

She swept across the field again, hoping that they would see him emerge at the last second to explain, but there was nothing. The much more likely explanation was already beginning to turn that 'fever' into a roiling flame that bristled one's words and ignited the skin.

And not just her skin, either.

 _He lied to me. All this time, and he lied. Lied about passing tryouts, lied about the games he played. And about playing last year, pretending to be a hot-shot soccer wizard the whole time. What? Did he think I wouldn't like him if he told me the truth?_

Breathe out.

 _No. There has to be another reason. I haven't seen all the angles yet. All I have to do is talk with him and find out why. He's still a nice guy. He volunteered to help us protect Vitienne-kun._

 _Unless that was a lie as well._

Breathe in.

"Yes, actually. I was. But enough about him for now."

The fake smile was easier this time. The feel of it helped distract from the heat underneath that wanted to immolate the one who had lied to her again and again.

"Why don't talk about you, Tenrii-kun?"

* * *

5/4 Saturday

After School

 _AT: julian-kun_

 _AT: julian-kun, where r u_

 _AT: I know the truth, you don't need to hide from me_

 _MS: ?_

 _AT: hey Senpai. just trying to get Julian-kun on the phone. Want to talk to him abt something_

 _MS: sorry, haven't seen hik today or yesterday_

 _MS: him*_

 _MS: how come? didn't you see him at the game?_

 _AT: shouldn't say here. He's trying to keep it secret_

 _MS: k good luck, don't let it distract you too much. See you tonight_

Mr. Umaeda was at the door to his club room before she'd fully opened it. Kotone and her friend, who Aiko only now recognized as her 'detention partner' Keta Rurichiyo, were already there, though he looked oddly tired. There was only one person missing from their new crew of four. _Julian._

"I think he's sick", she offered to the group nervously. "He wasn't in class. He's probably not coming."

Mr. Umaeda made an exasperated noise, but his grim mood didn't last long. "If there was any session that you might be excused from skipping... I am well aware that exams are fast-approaching. I can only hope that he uses this extra time to study. Assuming he's not too 'sick', that is."

Allowing her in, he raised his sword arm to indicate their new applicants. "Fortunately, we do have others to train with today. I'll be going through the basics with them as I did with you and Mr. Rosea, so you may take this time to refine your own stance, miss Tsuruga."

That sounded boring, and so it was. She would have much preferred a training partner like in previous sessions, but in truth it didn't hurt to relax a bit and simply watch Kotone and Keto run through the opening lessons either, mostly making the same mistakes that she and Julian made the first time.

Keto really did look bad, she noticed now that she could look closer at him. There were bruises on his face visible even through the mesh mask, and while he did a good job concealing it, occasionally his body would twitch with unexpected pain before he could shrug it off entirely.

Neither did this escape Mr. Umaeda's aged eyes. After the first twenty minutes, he ordered Keto to remove the mask, and then the rest of the white fencing outfit.

"Mr. Rurichiyo", he said far too sternly. "Is there something that you would like to tell us?"

Keta put on hand to his bruises as if detecting them for the first time. "Oh, these? Nothing big. I kinda... ran into a wall the other day. Exams are so distracting, you know?"

"Exams distract many students", their teacher countered with a nod to Kotone and Aiko. "You'll notice that none of _them_ have those injuries. Your hands are trembling. While I appreciate your enthusiasm in coming in today, you are in no shape to practice."

That pronouncement generated enough of an air of fear about him that she knew he was going to protest the decision before he did. "What? No, no. I'm good, I promise."

Umaeda gave a hiss of contempt. "Do you need someone to walk you to the infirmary, or will you be able to get there yourself? This school does _not_ need an accident like the one you are bound for on top of the disappearances, Mr. Rurichiyo."

Sensing agreement from the other two, Keta folded, discarding his outfit without bothering to put it back in the wall compartment. "I'll go myself, thanks."

"Be sure that you do", Umaeda called after him, tapping at his suit-clad wrist as if to indicate the time. "I'll be checking in with the nurse after this class is done."

He clapped a hand to his head after Keta was gone. "Well. So much for having the requisite four students for a school club, eh? Not that I don't appreciate your interest, miss Samesaji. Or Mr. Rurichiyo's."

Then he frowned. "Wait. You didn't put them both up to this, did you miss Tsuruga? I did warn you..."

"She didn't", Kotone blurted quickly, a bit more verbal with her partner gone. "I promise, Umaeda-sensei. I just heard about what Tsuruga-chan and Rosea-kun were doing with you after class, and I thought it sounded interesting to try. The timing was just a coincidence, really."

"Coincidence", he repeated, smiling wistfully. "A happy coincidence, I should say. Though Miss Mattora certainly wasn't happy to see it, haha."

"She is one of my teachers", Aiko piped up. "But I can't say I care very much about what Mattora thinks I should be doing."

" _Miss_ Mattora, or Mattora-sensei", Umaeda corrected her gently. "As you said, she is your teacher, and she should be afforded all due respect by our students, and the same for all the teachers here, regardless of your personal opinions. Cross them, and I will _not_ cover for you."

"Of course, Umaeda-sensei."

The rest of the class seemed abbreviated by necessity, not wanting to have all four of its members at different levels of proficiency, and before long they were hanging their gear up again.

"He's right though", Aiko remarked as they headed back out into the hall. "You chose the perfect time. You _are_ actually interested in learning, right Samesaji-chan? You're not just doing it because I mentioned that we needed more people, or because Rurichiyo-kun was doing it?"

Shy as ever around more outgoing people, Kotone reluctantly shook her head, the ponytail carrying with it. "No... well, when I heard that Rurichiyo-kun was interested after he met you in detention, I..."

It dawned on her then how foolish such an accusation was. It would be a complete lie to claim that all students joined extracurricular clubs just for the activity itself. Many joined merely because their friends did, and interest in the club was a secondary concern. She knew that had been the unwritten rule in middle school, and it likely held true here.

She raised a hand over Kotone's nervous stammering, signaling that it was okay. "Well, whether you did it to spend more time with me or Rurichiyo-kun, or both of us, we're glad to have you here, Samesaji-chan. And not just because we needed four people to fill out the club."

She considered Kotone's brightly smiling face an ample reward for enduring everything else that had happened today. "Thanks. I'll try and keep up. Really. I'll work hard."

"Exams are more important", Aiko reminded her, having heard similar expressions from Mirambela so often that she practically said it in her accented voice. "Umaeda-sensei said that if our grades drop below average, we'll be kicked out. I assume the same applies to you and Rurichiyo-kun too. Any idea what happened to him, by the way? 'I ran into a wall' is about as played-out as 'I fell down some stairs', and about half as believable."

"Nothing concrete", Kotone admitted nervously. She didn't like talking about Keto like this, not when she was hoping to get closer to him. "He's... absent from classes for long periods of time. That's why he gets detentions with Ishinagi-sensei so much, and he's almost never available on evenings."

Aiko blinked. "I was worried about Julian-kun not doing well on the exam, but it sounds like Rurichiyo-kun is in far worse shape than him. You have his contact info, right? Ask him if he wants to study with us tomorrow or tonight. I'll share mine with you, now that we're fencing partners."

 _KS: Rurichiyo?_

 _KR: hey babe u done already?_

 _AT: actually, we were wondering if you were done with the nurses' office_

 _KR: tsuruga? howd you get this oh yeah just got out gave me some painkillers and bandages and told me to be careful + shit heading to the dorm now_

 _KR: guess well be fencing mates now huh you ever call that number?_

"Number?" Kotone looked confused.

"Something we found in detention", she explained before wondering if there was ever a time when Keto had used punctuation in texting. He clearly hadn't expected it to be a three-person conversation.

 _AT: nah don't need it_

 _AT: Kujou hasn't been too bad lately. prolly cause of what happened to Mira-chan_

 _KR: well hang on to it just in case cya l8r_

 _KS: actually, we were wondering if you wanted to study together in the_

She stopped typing, seeing that he had already left the conversation. "So much for that."

Aiko shrugged like it didn't matter. "We could call him back and ask him. You know, there was this kid I knew in middle school who wouldn't stop calling you until they got the answer they wanted. Of course, most people just blocked him when they figured that out..."

"No", Kotone cut her off. "I'll talk to him later about it. For now... how about if we go to the library to study, just the two of us?"

She nodded back, resolving not to ask any further questions about the Karma Club at this time. That could wait... she hoped. "Sounds like a dinner."

* * *

5/5 Sunday

Morning

"One day", Aiko spoke into the suddenly heavy air of room 22. "One more day until it's time."

"Yes", Mirambela groaned wearily back from her newly-cleaned bed. "We've managed to master the concept of days now. Go us."

Her roommate stared back at her in genuine worry. "Okay, maybe you really have been hitting the books a bit too hard lately, because you sound more like Niyoga-kun than yourself."

Thankfully it was only a brief phase, and Mira shifted back to her usual self, though clearly still in the grip of the dreaded 'midterm anxiety' in a far worse way than most students.

"It's okay", Aiko breathed out, holding steady. "It's okay. We've gone over the material so many times now... If there's anything, anything at all you're not totally 100% about, we can go over it again today."

Seeing a thoughtful look in her friend's soft eyes, she quickly threw up her hands in a panic. "I, I'm not saying all day though. My body's already cramping up after last night in the library."

Mira nodded. "I know. I've heard stories that too much cramming actually has the opposite effect."

"You had the time to read about _that_ too?!"

Amused by her mock incredulity, Mira pointed across the room. "Actually, it was a special news story on the TV. We're not the only ones doing exams, after all. It's nationwide."

"Yeah", she closed her eyes and saw raw data inside her eyelids. "I bet there's some crazy statistics that you could find about how messed-up people's sleep patterns get this week."

"No doubt", Mira agreed wearily. "Well, when this is over, I'll be sleeping late for the next week. Try not to wake me up, okay?"

"I'll be as quiet as a mouse", Aiko promised her. "Unless Pela-tori is around. Oh, my God... do you think he actually eats mice and stuff like that?"

Mira mulled it over. "Real falcons do. But he's not a normal falcon. I... he said he was hungry the other day, and I fed him some of my dinner. He was fine with it, even though I was a bit worried about how his body would take it."

"Then maybe I'll talk to him today. Be back later tonight."

Pelagio was waiting at the peach tree just outside, actually in the process of trying one as she walked by. "Having fun?"

He seemed embarrassed, quickly withdrawing his beak from the fruit and causing it to topple down to the ground. "Ah... I suppose so, my lady. It has been an... educational experience thus far. Humans are quite odd."

"Even more than I thought possible", she agreed, remembering Bartholomew's tale about Tartarus and the varied Persona-users who had dealt with it despite being no older than she was. "That's actually why I wanted to get away from Mira-chan for a bit. I wanted talk to you about something in Faraway Lands."

That got him away from the branch entirely, fluttering down to the bottom of the trunk to peck absently at the fallen peaches. "Speak, and I shall answer the best I can."

Aiko shifted, considering the question. "You said you'd traveled to several other Lands before you found the gate to our world. Did you ever see Furusato-san? Or any Land that might look like it would be hers?"

He looked disappointed, though more in his ability to give answers than hers to ask questions. "I never saw the girl you speak of, since I never dared travel very far into a guarded Land alone. As for whether I ever visited it, while I have seen a photo of her on the television I cannot say for certain, since I have no idea what the world of her dreams would appear as."

That, she supposed, was the crux of the problem. They still had no idea what exactly had driven Ayano Furusato into despair and caused her to enter the gate at Yume Bay. They had never even met her in person, and had no real idea of what she was really like. Noel was in no state to tell them, and Aiko had to confess to a certain reluctance on her part as well.

It hurt to see Noel like that. It would hurt to see anyone she cared about like that. It reminded her too much of her mother's natural state.

"You must also keep in mind that her Land would not have manifested until the point that she entered it, which was less than two months ago."

She sighed and slapped her forehead. "Of _course_. Stupid, stupid... How could I have missed that? Did you see anything during that time?"

The bird considered this idea more carefully. "Hmph. If I think back to that time... and please, do keep in mind that time operates on a very different scale there... I would say there were two major Lands that stood out which I visited shortly before I located the gate that brought me to your world. One of them appeared to be what you would consider a traditional 'feudal-style' kingdom, where all the Shadows there were garbed as samurai, serving under a tyrannical Shogun."

Her eyes narrowed. "Interesting."

 _Dead end though probably. We could question the ruler there, maybe._

"And the other one...", Aiko saw white feathers curdle across her friend's body, "the other Land... it may not actually be a Land. It was, I believe, a dreadnaught battleship of some sort. A great seaborne metal colossus which I could not get close enough to investigate further, as it was being protected by several Leviathan Shadows."

" _Protected?_ ", she asked, stunned at the image and the idea that a Land might be mobile. "You're sure that you weren't just unlucky?"

Looking up from his peach meal, he shook off a beak still dripping with juice. "No. The Leviathans were most definitely guarding that place for some reason. They normally roam about Faraway Lands at random in search of food, often trying to devour each other as well, yet this group was fully coordinated and they did not attack one another. They never left sight of the ship."

"Deader end", Aiko announced with certainty. This didn't diminish her burning desire to find Ayano, but there were some risks that just weren't worth taking, even towards that goal. They'd beaten Leviathan Shadows before, but only one at a time, and Pelagio had steered them away from stronger ones several times during their trip. "We could try the feudal place, maybe... but that'll need to wait until after exams. That's the other thing I wanted to tell you about."

Finishing his meal, Pelagio regarded her curiously. "I have heard much talk among the campus of these 'exams', my lady. Are they truly so feared?"

"Well... Most students fear them", Aiko admitted, trying not to laugh at his honesty. "Uh, maybe 'fear' is the wrong word for it. More like 'dread'? But it's like taking a flu shot. Sure, it's painful. But it's gotta happen sooner or later, or you'll regret it. Though, I'd bet Niyoga-kun isn't sweating at all right now." In fact, she had seen the 'information merchant' swamped with students lately desperately trying to trade gossip for study tips.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Mira-chan and I are going to be very busy for the next four days after this one with midterm exams. So, y'know. Don't take it personally if we're not around much this week, and please don't fly by our windows too much."

Thankfully, he didn't seem offended by the request for privacy. "...I see. You must face this trial alone, then. I shall continue watching over the Yume Bay during afternoons, and studying humans at other... times."

Trying not to wince at the word 'study', she nodded. "If you do see someone at the gate, we'll be in the dorms at that time. Oh, and Pela-chan?"

"...Yes?"

"I was wondering... What kind of food do you like?"

* * *

5/5 Sunday

Afternoon

"Thanks for coming", Reiha said as they took their seats at the mall's food court, "I know you've been busy- just by how busy _I've_ been."

"I have a good study partner", Aiko told her. "Maybe a little bit _too_ good. How about you? Is there any third-year student able to help you, like Tatsunoko-san?"

"Yeah, he's pretty good", she observed gamely. "But I always get my best studying done in the dorms, so he can't really join me there... anyways, there's someone there who's pretty good too. Yuki Eizogumo."

Having heard that name more than once among the static of rumors, she perked up. "The Shogi club president?" She'd seen glimpses of Yuki among the crowd as well- a portly, cinnamon bun-haired girl who seemed to be perpetually sleepy-looking at all times of the day.

"The same. She's not just smart in Shogi either. Funny thing is, little Niyoga was the club president until she beat him."

That sounded impossible at first, but Aiko had never played Shogi herself, and couldn't say exactly how much a perfect memory and an eye for detail would help make someone a better player at the game. "Wow. She _beat_ Niyoga at Shogi? She must be pretty smart then!"

"Oh, she is. Niyoga left the club in shame after that defeat, never talking about it to anyone. It was the stuff of school legends, and one rumor that I can confirm is totally true."

She heaved a sigh. "Such an ego on that boy." _Just like Julian-kun in some ways. He just can't stand to acknowledge he's beaten. I wonder... is that defeat something he would lie about if asked?_ "Anyway, good to hear you're set for exams. At least, I assume you are, or you wouldn't have spent our last day out here."

"Yeah, I'm good", Reiha assured her pleasantly. "Honestly? I'm not sweating it too much. I have years of experience with these things, remember? Ask my teachers if you don't believe me. Sometimes people look at me and think I must be a 'Sukeban', but I'm always right on the curve if I'm not ahead of it."

Aiko frowned. "What's a 'Sukeban'?"

"A girl gangster", Reiha explained apologetically. "It's a dress style you see more in movies than reality. Still, if you're interested in trying it on, I'll help."

Remembering how she'd imagined what her duplicating Reiha's fashion choice would be like, she nodded hesitantly. "Uh. Maybe for a costume party or something. Don't want to give people the wrong ideas."

Reiha seemed strangely divided in opinion, glancing up into the skylight before slowly peering back down like she'd expected Aiko to have disappeared. "So, you're human after all. For a while there, I thought that someone had raised you up in some isolated place to see if a human can be taught not to judge people by appearances."

"Akihabara", Aiko pointed out firmly, "is the exact opposite of isolated." Relenting quickly, she shrugged innocently. "But you're right. Niyoga-chan once told me that humans use appearance to 'classify humans into limited categories due to lack of data storage', whatever _that_ means. You know how he is."

"Told you that for free, did he?"

She chuckled. "Actually, yes. He was going on about how many students here put their hair into ponytails, and what it signifies... I don't think he likes that hairstyle very much."

The older girl leaned back in her chair to regard her friend's own style. "Looks like you didn't appreciate it very much either. Or, is there another reason why you stopped wearing your ruby hairpin? I wanted to say, it looked like a pretty nice accessory for someone who wasn't rich. Or... are you?"

Without meaning to, she dropped silent. _Well you see, I was going through this metal forest in another dimension and these horrible monsters disguised as robots came and destroyed it with a laser blast, leaving only a tiny fragment of ruby behind. That made me really mad, because the pin was the only thing I have to remember my father by, so I busted out my Persona for the first time and kicked their butts._

But of course, she couldn't say any of that. "Um... No, no. I'm not rich. I decided that I didn't want to stand out. Also, too much risk that someone would steal it."

Reiha took her time responding as well, merely eyeing Aiko's loose hair as though expecting the hairpin to still be hiding somewhere in that tangle. "Too late not to stand out, I think. In case you can't tell by the way conversations change when you're near students, you're kind of making a big scene here."

"Samesaji-san told me something similar", she acknowledged quietly. "I can't help it. I can't just let people around me suffer. Not if I can help it."

And how much of that, she wondered, had come about because of her Persona's awakening? _Impossible to tell for sure. I never got this involved in other people's business back in middle school._

 _Fierce loyalty to your friends, a vicious wrath to your enemies._ That was what Anne Bonny had called her chosen stance on life, making her approval obvious. _It must be made clear that to become your enemy is an undesired thing under any circumstances, and that there are benefits to your friendship._

 _All because I wanted to make Koashimizu academy my home when Akihabara couldn't be._ That was why she'd tried to help Mirambela, why she'd promised to improve things. That dream had taken a body blow from recent events, but it wasn't dead. Not yet.

She must have looked as thrown as she felt, because Reiha waved a black gloved hand in front of her eyes.

"That's why I was curious. Because, to be totally honest Tsuruga, a person your age who can say 'I can't let people suffer' with a straight face and actually _mean_ it is rarer than a diamond these days. More precious too, at least to me."

"Do _not_ buy me anything", Aiko warned her in complete seriousness, holding up a finger in mock threat. "I mean it. Seriously."

"Like I could ever afford anything fancy like that", Reiha snorted. "You do look like you could use a haircut pretty soon though. Either that or get a new hairpin to tie it back with."

"Haircut", she blurted, automatically going for the less expensive option. _I'm_ never _replacing that pin. I have the ruby shard. That's enough to always remind me of my awakening, of how I felt at that time... to remind me of what's really important._

"There's a place here in the mall that-"

"Not now", she raised a hand. "I'll do it when exams are over. You know, as a way to celebrate."

"Get a chocolate crepe while you're at it", Reiha advised. "The ones made here are awesome and they don't water the fondue too much like most places."

"Got it", she surrendered, trying to press on to the matter at hand. "So you texted me to come out here so we can go shopping together again?"

Reiha smirked, folding her gloves over each other. "Hey, you owe me for the job recommendation. Congrats on that by the way. If I said yes, would you go with it?"

"I... guess so", she said after considering. That first trip to Tenjinsho with Reiha had been magical. She was still actually wearing the black and white patterned dress it had given her now, as a reminder. "Like I said, money's getting a little tight for me though."

"Then maybe we should change that."

The laminated chart she folded down onto the table was too small and thin to make noise, but the pictures and names on it did catch her eye. "Sea flowers?"

"Uh-huh. This is a different kind of job. One you can do whenever you want to. You like swimming, right? You're good at it?"

Embarrassed at the massive understatement, she shrugged. "I haven't met anyone my age who's better than me. Of course, we can't really test that, can we?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're still pissed off at Principal Yumika about the pool. But this stuff apparently grows on the reefs of Ourazaki in certain spots, and Dr. Spica is willing to pay for them."

"Spica...?"

Reiha paused. "Oh, sorry. Spica's this doc I know in the city, we could go meet him tonight if you want. Full name is Raharjo Mayaha Aspicaya- bit of a mouthful, I know. He's the one who originally diagnosed my condition, and I got to know him over the last few years. He's a cool guy, don't worry." She paused then. "Okay, maybe he's a little on the odd side, but still..."

Without waiting to hear Aiko's opinion on the man's reliability, she turned the chart over, revealing a map of the entire Kochi prefecture with several highlighted spots along the water's southern edges, along with several mountains. As stated, Ourazaki was the highest concentration, but there were plenty elsewhere as well.

"All of these spots have them. I could use some pocket change myself, but I swim like a brick and my gloves don't do well in water either. Then, I thought of you."

Inwardly amazed that she was actually considering it, she examined the map closer. Most of the spots were far enough away from the dorms that it would be an all-day trip. _Have to do it on Sundays or Golden Week. This sounds kind of shady, like something a 'Sukeban' would do... but I trust Hayato-chan. Any excuse to go swimming, I guess._

"I'd want a bit more than pocket change for doing this. How much is he offering, and where's his office?"

Reiha pointed to one of the highlighted spots in the denser part of the city, near the movie theater. "But he's only open to walk-ins at night. As for your payment, he wrote it beside each of the flowers."

Now she was paying closer attention to the numbers beside each of the rather ugly-looking sea plants, eyes widening as she took them in. _Definitely more than I'll make working at the Starlight. No reason I can't try to do both, since this doesn't have any set shifts._

"...Alright, why not? He did take the time to make this chart for me, after all. I'll give it a shot. After exams are done, I'll meet you there. Then I'll decide if this is something I want to try."

Reiha spread her hands across the table in satisfaction. "Heh. Thought so. That's what really makes you unique, ya know? You text and go shopping with me and the others, but that's not all that you ever do, Tsuruga-chan. You actually want to get out and see the world. And don't worry; we'll go shopping together next time."

 _If only I could tell you_ , Aiko mused silently, _about all the other 'new' things I've been trying lately. Personas. Shadows. Other dimensions._

 _Then again, maybe I can tell you, in time. If there was ever someone who would actually believe me and not make a fuss about it..._

She'd think about it.

* * *

5/5 Sunday

Evening

The Fiddler's Green looked very different with its lights on. While the rugged boat was old enough that their absence wouldn't be surprising, once she could see them from the path leading down to the beach she had a strong hunch which ship was generating those thin beams of white that painted the hull and sand around it with illumination, so that the name of the ship was clearly visible on the upraised part of the hull for the first time.

Captain Byzael was waiting for her. He made a show of having made port for the first time in a while to test his lights by hand, but the way he was completely ready for a sudden guest suggested otherwise. "I'm surprised you came out here now", he noted with a welcoming smile. "Don't you all have exams tomorrow?"

"We do", she acknowledged. The lights painted their faces as well, making it easy to see every detail of the moving jaws and the skin stuck on them. "That's why I came, actually. For luck."

"Luck?" Byzael snorted and spat into the wind. He'd said before that act itself was a superstition, seen as a confirmation that you still had the strength to sail. If the spit lacked the power to beat the wind and washed back into you, he'd explained, it was time to quit for the day. "Those exams were created by humans, for humans. They're organized and intentional and _logical_. You don't need luck with that."

"Maybe", she allowed. "But I figured this would make me feel better than studying for another few hours."

"Exactly", Byzael said appreciatively. "Doesn't it feel better to tell the truth? You're not looking for luck. You're looking for a sign. A reason to go into the unknown with confidence in your heart that you will succeed. Believe me, I know. I've heard more sailor's superstitions than you've had birthdays."

Giggling, she saw no reason to doubt that claim. "I've heard that fishermen are superstitious even in Tokyo bay."

"They would be", he acknowledged, adjusting a light so that its glow cast out over the intersection between calm tide and sand, penetrating into the former so that the bottom could be seen even in the evening dark. "Stories like that pop up wherever there's an unknown frontier that we don't completely understand. Don't sail on Thor's Day. Don't change the name of the boat. Don't leave shore with unpaid debts to someone on land."

Joining him at the rail, she frowned, thinking back to her geography lessons. "But we _do_ know what's out there. I've seen maps of the whole world."

Byzael laughed warmly, hiding mockery as he stared out into the darkness. "People went out on the sea and made maps based on what they saw there. But... does every human see the same thing? Sometimes, I wonder... ah, never mind. You're not here for stories, kiddo. You're here to find confidence that you'll come out of this alright."

Taking a moment to help him with getting the light back to its proper position, she nodded. As usual, the man had a way of cutting right to the truth of things. That was probably why she was so scared to tell him about anything related to Faraway Lands. _Or why I want to tell him. He's the only adult who might understand._

 _Not now. Not now._

"I am. I've never taken a high school exam before. Mira-chan hated them, and now she'd spent over a week getting ready and forcing me to do the same." Her face fell, the light casting it into shadow. "But... but what if I forget the answers? There's so much! I can't possibly remember every single thing a teacher said to us, or every single page of the textbooks!"

Byzael sniffed at the air, the fresh breeze seeming to renew him. "It's been a while, but would you believe that I can still tell you the location and capital of every single country in the world, kiddo? Of course, some of them changed since back when I went to high school. Back then, there were 193 countries and dinosaurs roamed the earth."

"And you still remember every single one", she noted in amazement. "Incredible."

"Yeah", the captain chuckled. "'Course, it helps that I've visited a lot of 'em in person. Really gives you sense of scale, you know."

 _193,_ Aiko considered the number carefully. _Are there 193 islands in Faraway Lands? How many of them will we need to search through to find Furusato-san?_

"I bet it does."

Moving over, he hit another switch, disabling the front lights so that only the ones behind them remained, casting their rays in silhouettes from behind the two.

"The reason they herd you into those crowded sweaty rooms every day is to make sure you know the things that they think you need to know. When you read those books and listen to the teachers go on, they're just trying to make you understand things. Dates, and names, and lands... they're just pieces. Just context for the story they're trying to tell you. So long as you can prove you understand the meaning of the story, then I think you'll do just fine, kiddo."

And that, she realized, was all that she'd really needed to sleep well tonight. Confirmation from an adult- not a student, but an adult that she _trusted_ \- that exams weren't actually a torment from hell, and that she would get through them with a clear and confident mind.

Turning back to the lights, she nodded deeply. "...Thank you."

"Don't mention it", he said casually. "And don't worry. The other thing I remember about school is how stressed out _I_ was for exams, 'specially science. That's not a new thing. People will fret over exams for as long as the folks in charge think it's a good idea to determine a student's future in just one week. Never quite got that myself, but hey, I'm a fisherman not a teacher. What do I know?"

"Quite a bit", Aiko shot back, playing along. "In fact, after this week is over, I wanted to try an exam from you."

The suggestion had Byzael looking thoughtful, pacing back into the seat in his cabin. Over time, under his stern guidance, she had learned to move the sails and work the ship's catch nets and lights as well as anyone else. She could be proud of that much, at least. "Heh. An exam from me, eh? Well, you've definitely picked up the basics at least. 'Fraid I might not be able to do that for a while yet."

"Why not?"

The captain grinned in the cabin's dim light, putting a finger to his lips as if to hush her. "Got a new job opportunity. One that pays better than fish deliveries. 'Course, that's only what they told me, but the first payment checked out. I'm going to give it a shot."

"I see", she tried not to sound dejected. It was easy to forget sometimes that Byzael wasn't some kind of spirit forged out of the ether, but a man who still required money to live, even if he had no home of his own. Merely this ship, which showed signs of recent cleaning everywhere she looked. _Maybe he really was expecting me._

"I'll wait then. Call me when you're ready, okay?"

" _Call_ you?", Byzael laughed.

Aiko rolled her eyes, trying not to be too amused by the reminder of his status. "I'll buy you a phone, then. There's got to be some kind of discount plan you can get for a phone you only use for one person, right?"

Her eyes probed the man's stance against the wall of the cabin carefully. "How did you... I mean, how did you end up like this, captain? You said you went to school like anyone else. You had family, right?"

"Had family", he repeated with the proper emphasis. "Had friends too."

"I'm sorry."

It was perhaps the most cliched thing she could have blurted out, and she hated herself for it. "Uh... I must be getting tired."

"It's hard to tell sometimes", he agreed without rancor. "Go then. Tomorrow's your big day, right?"

He waited for five minutes after she was gone before leaving the cabin. Dousing the rear lights left the ship illuminated only by the rapidly fading sunlight, but even with such a weak light he was still able to feel out each of the iron rungs along the cabin wall without a second of hesitation, climbing up to have a seat on the slanted roof as the breeze tickled at the hair beneath his hat.

"Oh, once I had a heart and it was true", he sang quietly to it, his dark-haired head bowed in contrition. "It fled from me and went to you. Please take care, as I have done... _For now you have two, and I have none."_

* * *

A/N: I know, more of the talky-talk. I promise things will kick into high gear next time. Unfortunately, while I usually have a clear idea of what I want the 'otherworld' segments to be like, I'm a bit fuzzier on the social parts even though they're an equally important half of the games.

Thanks again to Dowdz and World Balance for keeping me inspired with their own awesome Persona stories. You remain the rivers in my desert.


	19. Bloody Destiny

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/9 Thursday

After School

This was a new feeling. She wasn't quite sure how to define it.

Oh, she'd had tests in middle school, naturally. And they'd been tricky, requiring her to block out everything else and just _focus_ on what was in front of her.

But not tests that were stretched out over four days. Not tests that covered every subject at once, and demanded multiple essay questions on a tight time limit.

In short, despite all her preparations, it had been something of a wake-up call, and she understood better the way so many of the returning students had been facing this week with various states of mind ranging from grim resolve to sheer panic to unshakable dread. Fighting Shadows for her life had actually been less stressful somehow, possibly because she'd had Pelagio and now Mirambela helping her do that.

Working part-time at the Starlight diner after school had seemed like a relief by comparison, though that might have been because Mr. Otegi was giving her a lot of slack as a new recruit no matter what Boss told them. In truth, she rather liked it so far, getting to walk around and see new people in the city while surrounded by good smells and good, fresh seafood. It helped take her mind off the more worrying things in her life.

 _No wonder Mira-chan was so determined to study for weeks after she came back. I hope she did well. She deserves to._

At some point, Aiko realized that she'd been leaning up against her locker for several minutes, letting the bottled up stress slowly bleed out of her into the cool metal after the exam was over. This wasn't as uncommon a reaction as she initially feared- for once, the endless background noise of rumor had ebbed to a mere trickle, enough that she could peer through the crowd to see the familiar shining specs of Principal Yumika.

"Miss Tsuruga", he said courteously once he'd gotten closer. "Would you please accompany me to my office?"

A flood of stifling heat filled her, the contrast to the wintry chill of exam fear or dull locker metal. What now? Wasn't the police enough?

"I have... something to do, Yumika-sensei."

He was smiling gently, but it was a smile that wouldn't be easily argued with, and not by her. "This will only take a few minutes, I promise."

Of course, the background noise picked back up after so many people saw her being led away by the school's own principal. She involuntarily heard a whisper of 'Aiko the Psycho getting taken away to the nuthouse' at least once before they were at the office door on the first floor.

She would not allow that inconvenience to darken her opinion of their principal. For that, she had many other things she'd seen personally in Koashimizu academy. A clean, well-organized office and fancy oak desk did nothing to improve that appraisal.

"Since the issue was no longer urgent", he began, taking a seat behind his desk and pushing another out for her. "I decided not to inquire this of you until after midterm exams were over. I know full well how stressful they can be, particularly for a first-year student."

"I... appreciate it", she answered in complete honesty. "I was pretty nervous, really. Mira-chan told me, but I wish I'd spent a bit more time preparing... erm, I mean, Mirambela Sorano. Sorano-san, sir."

He didn't show any sign of annoyance with her lack of formality. Pulling open a small desk drawer, he withdrew a wrapped caramel candy bowl, offering her a round piece even as he took one for himself, downing it in a single gulp. "My guilty pleasure, of sorts", he noted distantly. "Even in this day and age, I believe that food is one thing that can unite people of all nations and types... and I must also confess to a sweet tooth unbecoming of an adult."

"Thank you, Yumi- sir", she took it, inwardly annoyed by sounding _too_ formal now. She'd already worked out how formal was proper for teachers and students, but no matter what he thought about him privately, Principal Yumika was far beyond teachers in the hierarchy. This friendly, almost casual behavior from him was contradicting her previous perception of school principals, who were normally all fat, frumpy, _grumpy_ old men like Mr. Noriyama. Something about those reflective specs on his nose was unnerving. Like a pair of tiny cameras were watching her, fed into some distant observatory of human behavior to be archived.

"Mr. Takao spoke highly of you", Yumika said, adjusting his glasses. "I doubt you have too much to fear, and even if you do, there is ample opportunity to do better at a later time." Having done his best to put her at ease, he touched his elbows gingerly to the desk and folded his hands, giving her the impression of a much younger, more handsome, more human Igor.

"You must have been equally distressed by the disappearance of your roommate, even if it was only temporary."

 _So that's what this is about. A new person I have to lie to._

"Oh. Oh, yes. I was so scared for her, especially after the way she left the campus."

One hand rose, putting a finger up to the bridge of his nose to adjust his glasses. "I will say that I have spoken with Mrs. Mattora at length about that unfortunate situation. Sadly, this city has been witness to several instances of teen suicide over the years, and I was grateful to learn that this wasn't such a case."

 _And that's why you installed those nets at the cliff. Great, but it didn't help Furusato-san or Mirambela._

"Our students are in a stage of their lives where they experience severe emotional turmoil, due to exposure to many difficult aspects of modern life before they may have the acumen to deal with it", Yumika explained softly, no longer looking at her but out the window at the cliff. "Sometimes, the pressure is simply too much. They are too scared to seek help, to admit to others that they have a problem, and it breaks them. This is not an epidemic unique to this school alone."

 _Lovely. You're saying that it's something that is so common it can't be prevented? Like Mira running out into the water trying to drown herself is like a common thing? Like Ayano's situation couldn't be avoided?!_

He seemed to sense her thoughts to a degree and brought his hand back down. "Though miss Furusato was not attending school at the time of her disappearance and subsequent death, it would be remiss of us not to investigate the cause's origin, and address it if it was something related to this academy."

For the first time in a while, she rose from her angry thoughts, wanting to give this man a chance to prove he wasn't like the police officers who had questioned her before. "I'm afraid I don't know much about Furusato-san. She disappeared before I arrived."

"I am aware", Yumika said evenly, placing his hand on a sheaf of paper. "That was my first concern, actually. I have read your background, miss Tsuruga. You are one of the only student transfers to come to us from all the way over in Tokyo, despite there being many high schools there who would have gladly accepted you as a student."

The barb was too good not to take. "Well, I was interested in this place after I saw on the brochure that it was really multicultural, taking in most of the exchange students. And that it had a pool."

A dark eyebrow rose above his glasses. "Sarcasm does not become you, miss Tsuruga. I am well aware of the flaws present in this academy, and worked to correct them. That is not the subject of this discussion. I am more concerned for the true motivation behind your coming here. Your mother, Kogaya Tsuruga... Was going to an academy far away from her a part of your unusual choice?"

 _Then_ she understood. Nodded respectfully, this time. "You think that I was trying to escape from her by coming here. You think that I'm unstable, like I'll be the next girl to break, and run away and disappear."

"I am merely expressing my concerns about your health", Mr. Yumika said sternly. "No other students in this school have a record of physical confrontation within two days of their arrival. As you know, violence is not tolerated here at Koashimizu."

 _Really? Try telling that to Kujou._

"Additionally, you have been credited as the one most responsible for reviving a flagging interest in Mr. Umaeda's fencing club- a violent extracurricular activity which many schools have discarded for being too brutal. Several teachers here have expressed their dislike of it."

 _Yeah, I can just imagine Mattora complaining to you about it, saying that girls shouldn't be taught such things like fencing or soccer or Shogi._

"Furthermore, I have reports that you spend a great deal of time on the southern coast, outside of school property where the fishing boats gather. The very same shore where miss Sorano is said to have disappeared, and where... where poor miss Furusato's body turned up."

Aiko stood, briefly admiring the way the outdoor light shone off the man's glasses to leave them completely opaque, creating the illusion that she was speaking to a pair of microscopically small moons. "With all due respect, I don't believe that's any of your concern, Mr. Yumika. But I appreciate that you're trying to stop this... _whatever_ it is, before it takes someone else away. So, I promise you now... that I _won't_ disappear. I feel fine. I'll be staying here, no matter what happens."

That seemed to satisfy the principal's worries even as he glowered back at her. "I could give you another few days of detention for speaking to your principal in that way. However, I do appreciate your blunt honesty, miss Tsuruga. Someone who tries to maintain discipline won't always be liked. I learned that truth even before I became a teacher."

"Before you became a teacher", Aiko repeated, remembering something that Reiha had told her. "Back in Tokyo? You're from there too, right?"

"Yes, I am. Many of our staff are, actually", Yumika said more amicably. "It feels like there are more of us here when you visit the Tenjincho mall or Higashisukumo station, but in truth, Tosashimizu city's population is a 'mere' 37,000 people. That's a drop in the bucket compared to Tokyo's millions, of course. Naturally, only a handful of those people would develop talents in the field of education, or elect to stay in their hometowns in lieu of visiting the big city that everyone always talks about."

Staring out the window at several passing students idly playing around with a soccer ball, he gave an amused little grin at her. "To be honest, miss Tsuruga, I much prefer it out here in this coastal 'backwater' of Japan. I have reasons to believe that Tokyo's mental and physical congestion has a detrimental effect on people's relationships and morals. It exacerbates people with fear of crowds into becoming full shut-ins, for example."

Aiko fell silent. She had never looked at it that way before. It was true that she found the practically unlimited crowds and noise of Akihabara overwhelming at times, and it was regarded by many as the 'Otaku capital' of the entire city. By comparison, Tosashimizu was regarded like a nowhere country town despite having the architecture and population to count as a small city almost anywhere else.

 _Of course, decades ago it actually_ was _a nowhere country town, just another small piece of the Kochi prefecture. That's how we discussed urban demographics in Mrs. Uchimada's class. As the population grows, more and more people move out of Tokyo to get away from the congestion and fill up the other cities and towns, making them grow bigger still. Tiny little towns like Yaso-Inaba are rare nowadays. Everyone wants to be in the big cities where there's work and big malls._

"Shibuya?"

Yumika hesitated. "Pardon me?"

"I'm just guessing. Trying to figure which part of Tokyo you're from. That's the area with the most people in it, right? Where the diet building is? Shibuya?"

The man clucked his tongue politely. "Ha. You were close, but not quite. But we've wandered off topic, miss Tsuruga. As a precaution against further incidents, I would like for you to visit with Mr. Ishinagi in his office after class on each following Wednesday. I believe that you're familiar with him already."

Her face fell. She did know and like Mr. Ishinagi despite his giving her detention, but extra sessions with him was the last thing she needed when so many other things were demanding her attention. Of course, their principal expected that reaction- it would have been the same on any student.

"...How many days do I have to go for?"

Back in full disciplinarian mode now, the principal shook his shaggy head. "As many as Mr. Ishinagi deems necessary to ensure your mental well-being. It's our duty as teachers to address any serious concerns that our students may have."

 _Bullshit. If you meant that, you'd shut the SDC down and fire Mattora and finish the pool and..._

"I am merely concerned, miss Tsuruga. I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't make a concentrated effort to reduce chances of another Ayano Furusato incident, another Mirambela Sorano. Other students beside you who have had previous issues on record will be receiving a similar request to have sessions with a qualified guidance counselor, so please don't feel as though you're being singled out. These sessions will be entirely confidential."

She had no choice. No matter what she might have thought, no matter how much the spirit of defiance made her want to argue, a principal wasn't someone who could be easily debated by a mere first year student. Most of them weren't even on speaking terms with students outside of assemblies. This one in particular seemed like he was capable of doing much more than just pulling the 'I'm an adult so I know best' card.

She always hated that card. But despite everything, she felt like she was on the precipice of actually _liking_ their principal.

* * *

5/10 Friday

Lunch

Koashimizu's students called it 'national skip day'. The day immediately after exams and immediately before the Saturday when the marks would be posted. Classes would continue as usual, but they would be unable to head into any new material until after the marks got posted. Normally the gap would be longer, but the advent of computerized marking systems sped the process up a lot.

Of course, computerized marking systems were what had gotten Mirambela Sorano into her situation to begin with.

Looking back, it had only been a period of around one week, but it felt so much longer to her. A second life even, overlaid atop the first that had started with the violent (for her) rejection of this one. A life spent as a technological genius and professional dancer, beloved by all who lived there and served and protected by her own wondrous creations.

A life that was a complete falsehood, a living dream created for her by the other world. Summoned by everything she had been thinking on that awful day. Thoughts which had manifested as her Shadow.

It was shameful in retrospect really, how she'd behaved then. Reports appeared on the news about teen suicides all the time. But this was often explained as being caused by a massive, world-ending trauma rocking the victim's entire world into ruin. Something like drug overdose or a psychological disorder or parental abuse. Not something as trivial as _grades_.

It hadn't been that, of course. That had merely been the catalyst that allowed her overactive imagination to fill in the unknown blanks of her future with the darkest possible scenario. Another year of torment, and all for nothing since she would be forced to repeat it again after. An eternity spent as a first-year, her tormentors graduating and moving on to make way for new ones. Benihime Kujou's daughter laughing as she kicked a defeated old woman around the courtyard, an old woman whose family had long ago abandoned her as a lost cause who was too stupid to ever achieve anything.

But that wasn't what had happened. That nightmare hadn't come true, and now it never would. Someone had come to her, and helped her through it all, even risking her own life. Someone who liked and respected her, and always tried to make good on her words. It was like being back in the comforting presence of Elinah, her eldest sister of 26, but unmarred by the gulf that had opened between them ever since she had taken on work and a separate life in the city.

Mirambela only hoped that she could prove herself to be worthy of having such a good roommate.

Maybe that time to prove herself wasn't so far off. Though 'national skip day' had reduced the density of the hallway crowds to a noticeable degree, the convenience of being able to walk from a dorm to school in a handful of minutes meant that many had shown up.

Including two girls who had decided that national skip day was the perfect time to write yet another unflattering message on Aiko Tsuruga's locker.

Mirambela made sure to keep stay facing the other wall as soon as she noticed them coming. In a sense, she was almost grateful; her plan to watch over the locker during times that seemed likely for it to be vandalized once again.

Aiko wouldn't let it bother her. Whether through long-time exposure or something else she couldn't guess it, she had developed a strong resistance to such taunts and pressure.

But that wasn't the point. The point was that she shouldn't _have_ to put up with such messages creeping into her life every day, as Mira had put up with for much of the previous year.

The two were subtle about it, sidling on over to that bank of small lockers as though it was only a natural part of their path to wherever they were heading, both exchanging a steady flow of innocent gossip. It was only after they actually had the marker out and the message halfway written that Mira sucked in her breath and turned.

"Hello there, Sonoka-san", she called out in a louder than normal voice, though still pleasant, grateful that she had recognized one of the perpetrators from the SDC. "What's that you're writing?"

Their reaction alone was almost worth the trouble. Neither of them had expected to have a witness who cared, and Mira had never spoken to them without being spoken to first. The unknown girl with the freckles looked especially alarmed, but Sonoka recovered quickly, fear shifting into irritation.

"This doesn't concern you, Stup-rano. Get lost."

Rehearsing this in her head had definitely been a good idea. She knew exactly how to respond, without a trace of her prior stuttering or weakness. "Well. I think it does concern me, if you're writing something on Ai-chan's locker."

"Go _away"_ , Sonoka repeated, teeth grinding together now that they were beginning to draw attention from other students too. "Or you'll pay for it the rest of the year."

That was less expected, but she didn't falter for too long. "Insulting Ai-chan again? Don't you do that enough online?"

Sonoka's partner finally snapped then, putting a slender hand up to the unfinished part of the message. "Uh, you see... it's.. uh, an important message for Tsuruga-san."

"Yes. I can see that. She'll be forced to read it as soon as she comes back to her locker. Then, the janitor will clean it off tomorrow. _Again._ What message would be so important?"

Ignoring Sonoka's glare of murder, she walked closer to the defaced locker, leaning over and squinting at the hastily-written characters; only black marker would show up properly on the locker's metal. "Let's see here. It says 'you are a who...'."

Freckles paled further, looking like she was about to run. Sonoka lowered the marker.

Mira felt her lips turning up into an actual smile. "Go ahead, Sonoka-san. Finish your important message. I'll assume that you wanted to write 'you are a whonderful friend'."

Sonoka's arms trembled, but she did end up finishing the message the way Mira had suggested. "Kujou-senpai will hear about this, Stup-rano. A gaiijin interfering with student disciplinary matters."

"Disciplinary matters." Mira gave a light, amused wheeze. "Do it then. Bring her this message- 'You will not hurt Ai-chan any more. Or else.'."

"Or else?" Sonoka tried to sound defiant.

Mira simply pointed across the hall to the other bank of lockers. As the two followed her finger, she noticed for the first time how all the nearby chatter had suddenly stopped. She had the floor now.

It felt absolutely _incredible_. Nerve-wracking, but also incredible. Incredibly nerve-wracking.

Almost as good was seeing Sonoka's face when she saw the cell phone set up on the bank of lockers on the other side, its screen directly pointed at them and set to record.

"Wave hi if you like", Mira offered, retrieving her phone before anyone could jump up and grab it. "And don't worry. I know that Kujou-senpai probably won't listen to your message, so I'll give the same one directly to you." Her eyes narrowed into what he hoped was an intimidating glare. "Don't you do _anything_ like this to Ai-chan ever again. Or I'll show this recording to Takao-sensei and Ishinagi-sensei."

Freckles could take no more and darted off. Sonoka took longer, glaring back the whole way, clearly wanting to exact revenge for their humiliation but unwilling to risk being punished for it.

A wide range of expressions faced her as she departed as well. Irritation, confusion, amusement... there was no one there who would applaud what she'd done. For them, it was a moment's amusing diversion and nothing more.

For her, it was a moment like she hadn't felt since first arriving in her 'Land', and she could only smile.

It was very difficult for her not to turn around and wait to see Aiko's reaction to the new message before it was erased like the rest.

 _I wonder what the janitor will make of it?_

It didn't matter, she decided, hurrying out of the building and into the fading sunlight.

What mattered was that she _wasn't scared of technology any more_. Or of Sonoka. And _that_ was quite enough of an achievement for one day,

* * *

5/11 Saturday

After Class

They had to wait several minutes before the crowd around the big board would let them in. Mirambela would have waited hours, or even days. She wasn't going back to the dorm until she had confirmation of the cautious confidence she had been feeling for the entire week.

"You'd think they would put it up on a big screen", Aiko joked beside her. "I thought this was supposed to be a cutting-edge technology kind of place."

"Oh, _sure_ ", a familiar voice replied, heralding the emergence of Yuuichi Tenrii through a gathering of students who more willingly parted after seeing his leg brace. "And how long do you think it would be before someone smashed it so they didn't have to see?"

"About three minutes", Mira guessed absently. "Not that I would ever do that. Imagine the trouble you'd get into."

"Yeah, but everyone else would call you a hero", he joked back. "Fair trade, I'd say."

Ignoring their suppositions, the board was a stark white as always, displaying hundreds of student names and their midterm grades. Mira had no idea when this tradition had started- her middle school back home had never put students on display in such a way- but it seemed to be a common practice in every high school in Japan.

"Competition", Aiko answered when asked. "At least, that's what I figure. The people with the highest scores are praised and people want to hang out with them. The people with the lowest scores..."

"Get ridiculed", Mira finished bitterly, remembering her previous year all too well. Her arms rose of their own accord to cover her eyes. "Oh, I can't look... please check for me!"

Neither of them responded at first, Yuuichi and Aiko carefully looking over the board for either their own grades or Mira's. The first response was an annoyed grunt from Aiko. "Hm. Top 100. Not as good as I'd hoped, considering the number of nights I studied with you."

"Me too", Yuuichi noted in a more reserved tone. "Wait a sec... is your last name Sorano?"

Not knowing him well, she couldn't tell if those words were inviting or foreboding. "Y-yes...?"

"Open your eyes. Check up near the top."

She did. The name and numbers were there, and she couldn't recall the last time it had taken her mind so long to process such a simple bit of information.

...

 _4th. 4th out of the top 10. Hanako Ganzeki, Shukiji Niyoga, Junryusei Tanaka, and Mirambela Sorano are the top 4 highest students._

 _..._

 _Mirambela Sorano._

 _Me._

Aiko and Yuuichi's lips were moving rapidly, sending her words of encouragement and praise that she did not hear. There was the tingling sense of euphoria filling her up, and by the time her senses came back to her, she caught herself in the middle of a joyous improvised dance number. She could not feel her own limbs in that time, only knowing they were moving by the way her vision was suddenly jerking around. She might have made a certain amount of joyful noise as well.

Many of the students were visibly repulsed by this sight and moved clear muttering dark things under their breath, but Yuuichi and Aiko clapped for a bit after she was done. "I _knew_ you could do it, Mira-chan", she said proudly, looking like she wasn't quite sure if it was okay to put a hand over her friend's shoulder. "I've seen the kinds of things that came out of your head. That stuff _couldn't_ come out of someone stupid!"

That confused Yuuichi. "Huh? Came out of her head? What do you mean?"

Blushing, Aiko removed her hand and moved it to her mouth. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. Just a little in-joke between roommates."

Her focus returned to the board then, trying to find another name, eyes stopping on the name 'Jiachi Rosea'. "Phew. He's in the top 200 at least. Above the average, if just barely. He kept his promise... this time."

"You seem awfully concerned about this guy", Yuuichi remarked beside her. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Reflexively glaring back at him, she paused. "Kind of, I guess. Sort of. We've only gotten together once. It wasn't a _date_ date."

"And then he lied to you", he remarked, his voice carefully neutral. "About getting onto the soccer team."

"Yeah", her shoulders slumped. "He did." Somehow, saying it out loud made it sound like a far worse sin that it really was. She scanned the crowd, wondering if they would see Julian there. Nearly every student had to have shown up here at some point to determine their midterm results, but it was entirely possible that he'd already checked and left for the dorms.

 _Or maybe he never came in today to begin with. He's not answering my texts._

"I'll talk to him", she declared both for herself and for Yuuichi. "I'll ask him what's really going on."

* * *

5/12 Sunday

Morning

"FREEDOM!", Aiko whooped to no one in particular, raising her arms in triumph similar to what Mirambela had shown when she saw her grade. "Freedom! No more feeling guilty for every single second of our entire lives that we don't spend poring over dusty old books!"

Luckily, the only ones to hear her were Mira and Pelagio, who had come in through the window with the morning breeze. "I am most glad to see you have forged through your trial, my lady. I must confess, I worried for you."

"I worried for me too, Pelagio", she smiled back stretching her arms out as if shaking off a week's worth of frayed nerves. "Mira-chan was the real hero here though. 4th place out of hundreds of students! That's incredible."

The greatest part of her enthusiasm already vented, Mira simply shrugged and smiled back. "Hey. Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you, Ai-chan. You did very well, too. Good job."

"I guess", she said more despondently. "I could've been better. Guess I have to wait until we get the actual tests returned before I can say exactly what I did wrong. Probably the essay questions. It's _always_ the essay questions. Bleugh."

"You were both quite brave to face it without my aid", Pelagio told them, his beaked face offering no hint as to whether he was being ironic or not. "Hmph. Since that trial is now over with, do you plan to continue your exploration of Faraway Lands today?"

Aiko didn't need to look to know that Mirambela wouldn't be fond of that idea. Her single exposure to the other world as a Persona-user instead of a Land's ruler had only increased her concerns about the dangers involved. _She just has to experience it a bit more, get some more confidence in her abilities, just like in our world. That Persona of hers can zap Shadows before they can even get near her daggers, and Pela-chan and I will be with her the whole time._

"Tempting, but not now." Instead, she turned to Mira. "Actually, I was going to ask you today... would you teach me to dance?"

Mira looked amused by the offer, but in a good way. They couldn't help but be a bit obnoxiously happy after surviving both Faraway Lands and midterms, and this was one subject in which she greatly excelled. "Of couse. Anything for you, Ai-chan. Only, this room is a bit too small for that."

"Got it covered", she replied before reaching to grab something from beneath her bed, revealing a full-size brown futon. "I brought this from home. No point in using it to sleep on when we have proper beds, but now we can use it as a dancing mat on the beach. Or the cave, if you don't want anyone to see us. I'd understand."

"The beach will do", Mira sounded impressed at her planning. "Dance is something that should be shared with others. Besides, I don't trust that cave. I know Pelagio said it was harmless, but something in there gives me a bad feeling."

"That's just 'cause it's damp in there and you can't see too far in. He said there were some shellfish in a pool there if you're interested."

"Not unless you want to try cooking them."

"Eww! No."

Mira grimaced, and Aiko knew her reaction had been an unthinking one. Sea food was the staple of Tosashimizu's diet, but this was completely different from waiting for a cook to prepare the meat for consumption. "I mean, there might be diseases..."

"It doesn't matter. We'll just do it on the beach. Only... didn't you say that you were going to find Julian-kun and ask him stuff about soccer?"

"Eventually", she amended. "There's lots of things I want to do today, now that we're finally free from exams."

Their first practise session went fairly close to the way she'd expected. She did consider herself fortunate enough to have a teacher kind enough not to hammer home every mistake, or make the slightest reaction either way whenever she tripped over her own feet and tumbled down into the sand. Or show off too much.

"We'll keep trying", Mira offered peaceably once she'd run out of steam. They had the occasional friendly passerby, but beyond that the Yume bay was remarkably peaceful for a basin of water that served as a gate to a hostile alternate dimension. "That just means there's lots of room to improve. My older sister, Elinah, taught me."

"It's strange", she remarked towards the sea as a big cargo ship honked its way past them. "I feel like I'm lighter in the other dimension somehow."

"Me too", Aiko noted between breaths without needing to ask which 'there' she meant. "I was jumping between platforms back in there like I was a freakin' ninja. Pela-chan said it was a 'cognitive world', right? So it makes sense that we're a bit more agile over there, if we _think_ that we should be."

Mira raised an eyebrow. "Sure, why not? It makes about as much sense as anything else you see over there."

"Doubting the logic of your own cognitive world, Mirambela?", Pelagio's voice filtered down to them, the falcon taking a perch near the cave. "Hmph. It seems not even humans fully comprehend themselves."

"Understatement of the century", Aiko had to agree. "Especially if that whole crazy place really was formed by all our thoughts."

"It's so hard to understand another person completely", Mira said evenly. "But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to anyway." Nodding respectfully to Pelagio, she faced their appointed 'leader'. "Ai-chan. If you don't want to answer this, that's fine. I respect your right to privacy. I just have to ask you: why do you treat your mother so coldly all the time? I've heard you two talking over the phone sometimes. You're normally so nice to everyone around you- well, _almost_ everyone, Kujou doesn't count- but her..."

 _Struck a nerve_ was the exact matching phrase for the sensation that rippled through Aiko's small body then, and no one there could deny it.

"It wasn't that long ago", she said quietly after a lengthy pause, "that I wouldn't even answer her calls at all. It took a brush with death for me to try. Mira-chan... why do you think it is that I'm a transfer student? Why do you think it is that chose to go to a school so far away from my home in Akihabara? I didn't have any real problems in middle school. Like Yumika-sensei said, Tokyo has dozens of high schools who would have accepted me, no problem."

Naturally, the answer eluded her roommate. They were close, but it had gradually begun to dawn on her that even though Aiko had learned a great deal about Mirambela's past over the last month, the reverse was not true. "You wanted to make friends with foreign exchange students?"

Aiko barked a laugh that echoed through the damp cavern. "No, no, nothing like that. I only applied to Koashimizu academy because I wanted to get as far away from Kogaya as I could, so that she could never visit me and could only bother me over the phone, and only if I chose to answer it."

"Why? Why don't you like her? She's your _mother_."

The breeze of the sea suddenly felt cold on her skin, and she stared down into sullenly clenched hands. "I suppose it must seem strange to you, Mira-chan. I met your dad. He's awesome. Your mom too, if your cognition of her is any sign. They both love you a lot, I can tell just by talking to them and hearing you talk about them."

"Growing up with my mom... I know it sounds weird. I always felt like something was... missing. Not just my father not being there at all, but in _her._ Every time Kogaya looked at me, I felt like she was looking at something she didn't want to acknowledge. Like I was something she would prefer to forget existed."

Mira began to speak, but Aiko held up a hand. "Whenever she looked at me, or spoke to me, I knew that... I knew something was wrong. It was like she was looking at a scar, a wound that she would have preferred to forget about. She never neglected me, or forgot to give me food, or anything that bad. It was just... the moment I was old enough to really know how to read people's emotions, I _knew_ that something was wrong. Other parents didn't look at their kids that way. Other parents didn't deny the existence of the man they married. At least, I _hope_ they did..."

Her friend looked troubled by those words. Having grown up in a large, loving family, she would have no idea what Aiko was really talking about. Her father and mother showed affection mixed with admittedly high expectations for the smartest of their children.

"I know what this sounds like. Like it sounds like I'm whining", Aiko continued, faster now so she could get it all out. "Like I'm being a super melodramatic princess because I didn't get enough candy as a kid or something. And fair's fair- maybe I am. But she knew I was right. She just didn't seem to care, until I was gone. I guess the money she sent me and the phone calls is her way to try and make up for it." She gave a worn smile. "It doesn't. Not really. But I appreciate the effort. I take her phone calls now, we try and have a friendly conversations about what I did at school. Honestly, I _am_ kind of worried about her. She works from home all the time, and... to be honest, she doesn't take very good care of herself."

Mira was wrestling with an invisible _something,_ a thought she was afraid to give words to until her friend's gaze gave her courage. "You are _far_ from a spoiled princess, Tsuruga. Do think it's because you were... illegitimate?" She spoke the last word like it was contaminated.

Aiko nodded back. She had actually considered that possibility more than once. Illegitimate childbirths were disgustingly common, and the children who resulted from them had hard, bitter lives waiting ahead of them. While penny-ante orphanages were prepared for them, far too often it felt like it was merely a way of keeping them out of the public eye until they came of age, at which point they were left to the 'mercy' of the streets. Illegitimate children weren't wanted by society. They were merely 'tolerated', and only rarely would the mother agree to raise such a child alone.

Without knowing her father it would be impossible to know the real truth, but a few years ago she had reached the conclusion that it didn't matter one way or the other. If she was truly an illegitimate child, then she was part of that rare, lucky subset who had a mother willing to look after them, even if something was missing there. It was still a far better fate than most of that breed were faced with, she knew.

"...Possible. But even if I knew for sure, I sure as hell wouldn't spread that fact around. You think just being a 'gaijin' is bad? Illegitimate kids get treated like they've got the plague. There was this skinny blond girl I saw in middle school, and she..." Trailing off, she buried her face in her hands. "I wish I could have helped her, reached out to her. Been her friend. But I was too cowardly to do any of that for her, back then."

Feeling like their roles had become reversed from earlier, Mira put an arm nearly worn out from writing around her shoulder. "You are not cowardly now, Ai-chan. No coward could have helped me the way you did. No one else even tried. Did anyone else try to help that girl in middle school?"

She rose away from her hands, only a hint of tears visible. "No. No one. No students. No teachers. She always did everything alone. Back then, I was too afraid of what the other kids would say about me if I talked to her. After middle school, I never saw her again."

Mira set her lips into a firm line. "Then she did help you, Ai-chan, even if you didn't help her. She helped you become the wonderful person you are today. Someone who knows that no one deserves to be all alone in this world."

She gave a weak chuckle, sniffing as a waterborne fish trawler honked off in the distance. "I don't know. If I was so great, I think I would have been able to stop you from freaking out and running into that portal."

"And Furusato-san?", Mira asked almost disdainfully, emphasizing how ridiculous her friend's wishes, her demands on herself, truly were. "You're _not_ a miracle worker. You can't possibly be expected to save other people from themselves. All you can do is give us hope, and a shoulder to cry on."

"Yeah", she whispered, taking her hand as they walked out of the cavern. "Yeah, I know. So... Thanks for being my shoulder this time."

Mira's gaze lightened. "So that's why. Why you came here when you could have attended school from Akihabara."

"Uh-huh. Not that I hate her or anything. Well... not any more. You heard us talking. When I first got here, I wouldn't even pick up her calls. Heh. I guess absence really does the trick. Bet your family can't wait to see you again."

"No doubt", Mira acknowledged with a nod. "They'll all be waiting to hear stories from me about what Japan is like."

"Uh oh. Don't make us sound too bad now", Aiko teased her. "Otherwise, they might not let you come back here next year. I'll be waiting."

Mira giggled. "There was never any danger of that. And your earlier proposal still stands. You're welcome to come with me for the summer if you wish."

Aiko nodded. "I'd like that. Ooh, Pela-tori can come too. Although, getting him onto a plane might be tricky..."

"I must admit, it could be most intriguing to visit Miss Sorano's homeland", the falcon piped up, having maintained a silent vigil over the cavern entrance while they talked, though she had no doubt that he had picked up every word. "However, that remains a matter for another day. Were you able to arrange a time to talk with the Rosea boy?"

That sudden call back to the present was unwelcome at first, but she knew why he'd done it. "Not yet. He's been avoiding me. Most of the time, he goes straight to his dorm after class."

"Most of the time?"

"Yeah. His parents actually live in the city, so he visits them on Sunday. As for where that is..."

Pelagio's head rose up. "I could follow him, and learn the location."

But their leader merely shook her head. "No, it's fine. I already talked to someone who said they would get that information for me today; one address for another."

Mira gave a disdainful snort. "Niyoga-san, right? He wouldn't care that you're intruding on Julian's privacy."

Aiko wasn't angry at the accusation. She merely stared back. "Something is seriously wrong with him, Mira. Everyone's so focused on Noel-kun and midterms right now, I felt like I was the only one who noticed."

Mira stood up from their improvised mat. "If that ever was true, it's not any more. Let's go meet with Niyoga-san."

 _Freedom, huh? But it seems like we've still got plenty of things to do._

But then she remembered their earlier words, and nodded. _Maybe Julian just needs a shoulder of his own._

* * *

5/12 Sunday

Afternoon

The door opened almost before Mira was done knocking, revealing the pale shadow of a thinly-bearded man, dark brown hair cropped close all the way down to his neck. "Who are you?"

"Mr. Rosea?" Aiko stepped forward. "We're friends of Julian. Is he home?"

His eyes seemed dull and unfocused, but still managed to convey a strong, even angry denial. "His name is _Jiachi_ , young lady. Please don't encourage him by calling him by an improper name. In any case, he isn't home right now."

She felt Mira relenting beside her, but everything about the man made Aiko think something else was going on. "Do you know where he might be, Mr. Rosea? We wanted to talk him about something from school."

His eyes seemed clouded over. "He didn't tell us where he was going. He just ran out."

"Dear? Who is that?" A curly-haired woman who Aiko assumed to be Julian's mother joined them at the door. She looked comparatively young, but affected by much the same malaise as her husband, her gray eyes carrying heavy bags and her puffy lips permanently downcast.

"These are Jiachi's friends", Mr. Rosea explained. "Or so they say. I haven't ever heard him speak of you before."

"Don't be so suspicious, dear", Mrs. Rosea scolded him, sending some kind of invisible signal for him to leave the doorway and her to take over. "I know there's something wrong", she admitted to them after a moment. "He's been distant with us for the last few years, but just recently... I don't know what to do."

Aiko considered it for a moment. The house looked fairly upbeat, at least. A well-kept blue-beige exterior with several paneled windows. They had the bad luck to be almost directly beneath a major telephone pole, but with the black accents on the roof it almost felt like they were incorporating the ugly wires into the design.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Rosea shivered in the light rain. "A cold day for May. You should come in, then. Do either of you girls take tea?"

"I'd love some", Mira offered, glad to see a positive response from their efforts at last. "Thank you, Mrs. Rosea."

The interior was much the same as the exterior, making full use of limited space to create a combination of kitchen and living quarters. Mr. Rosea had been watching something on the TV in there, but the moment he sensed company he switched it off, leaving only uncomfortable silence. "You trust them?", he asked at last.

Mrs. Rosea did not hesitate in bringing out several mugs and pouring her large kettle while answering. "They said they were Jiachi's friends, and I believe them." Once the cups were full and prepared, she regarded Mira more closely. "If there's anything they can tell us about Jiachi, I'd gladly welcome them in."

The longing in her voice made Aiko instantly regret that they had little to offer her. "Actually, we were hoping to get some information from you. Ju- I mean, Jiachi-kun's been acting strange lately, and we were wanting to talk to him privately."

Mrs. Rosea waited until they had both taken their trial sip of the tea before considering what would be beneficial to share with them. "Perhaps the soccer games haven't been going well for him? He's a very dedicated athlete."

Mira and Aiko shared a worried glance before returning to their steaming hot cups. "I guess he is. But there's no game today, no practice. And..."

 _And he's been lying to us about being on the team from the very beginning, and to you as well from the sound of it._

The words sounded much harsher now that she'd arranged them into proper context. _No_ , Aiko decided before sensing a similar feeling from Mira next to her. _He deserves to tell them that himself. Telling them now would just upset them more, or even make them think we're the ones lying._

"...And, did he give any hint about where he might have gone to?"

If Mrs. Rosea noticed the awkward phrasing of this question, she gave no sign, merely studying her two guests and pretending to focus on the tea whenever they tried looking into her slate eyes in turn. She had the look of someone who worked for a fashion-related industry, able to use styles of clothing expertly in order to maintain some attractive looks even as old age began to set into her.

While her husband looked to have held up even better in that regard, his beard looked messy and improvised, something he'd grown only recently. "He never said anything", the man remarked a bit crossly. "We bring him home for dinner each weekend because we're within driving distance of the campus, but this week he said he had some things at school to take care of. Are you saying that he's not there now?"

She shrugged helplessly. "We haven't seen him, and he's not responding to text messages or phone calls."

Still seeming skeptical, Mr. Rosea fumbled and grabbed hold of his own phone, dialing a familiar contact number in the space of a breath. Several seconds after, he heaved an uneasy sigh.

"Jiachi, this is your father. If you're there, pick up. There's something I want to talk to you about."

Finishing the recording, he looked back as if to ask if his 'witnesses' were satisfied with his efforts. But Mrs. Rosea clearly wasn't.

She stepped around the counter, passionate eyes boring into his. "Dear, I think we both know what must have happened. You saw his reaction when he heard. He's obviously not taking it well."

For a moment, it looked like Mr. Rosea might crush his phone. Instead, he merely brought a hand down on the counter to shake the tea mugs. "I never gave him the location. I knew what he would do. If he's gone there anyway, after everything I warned him about..."

"Where?", Aiko cut in before the sense that they were intruding on private matters could grow any stronger. "Where would he have gone?"

 _Too late._ Mr. Rosea regarded her with a look bordering on hostility. "That's none of your concern. If he's chosen to disregard everything I said, everything I've tried to teach him for all these years... I'll find him. I'll talk to him myself. Don't you worry."

Disgust bubbled into her gut. Not at Mr. Rosea, but at herself for letting fear silence her after having fought Shadows for her life dozens of times. Somehow, this average height adult man had her more scared than those monsters.

She was about to step down, about to give up, apologize and thank them for the wonderful tea when Mrs. Rosea put her own metaphorical foot down, speaking clearly and coldly.

"Dear, please. You just said it yourself that he doesn't listen to you right now. If not you, then maybe his friends can convince him."

"I'm his father", he replied simply, bearing no wrath for the woman he loved, merely for those who might witness this exchange and think less of them for it. "We're the ones who raised him. Family above all else, even friends. Failure brings shame to the family for not raising them properly. Isn't that the way?"

"It is", she conceded. "It's what we're taught. Haven't I always stood by you? I follow that code. But it's _a_ code. Not the code that _he_ chooses to follow."

"And that's his mistake", Mr. Rosea proclaimed, snapping his phone shut and barging past them towards the exit. "I'll handle it. Don't you worry. I'll make him understand just how much of an embarrassment this is for us."

"Embarrassment?"

Then Mira's mind caught up with her and she realized she had spoken the accusing word, and now Aiko and the Roseas were all looking at her like she'd burped loudly.

 _No choice but to see it through now._ She gulped, trying to refocused the anger that had triggered the outburst.

"Juli- Jiachi-kun is missing. He might be in serious trouble, and all that you can think about is how _embarrassing_ it is for _you?!_ "

The man's eyes widened momentarily, not used to being talked back to by children. "You wouldn't understand, child. Your family isn't like ours. Unlike your kind, we have an image to maintain."

Mira felt rather than heard her friend's muscles tensing up at those words. She wasn't quite angry enough to throw down with someone in their own house, but she was certainly getting there.

Instead of waiting for it to get that far, she held up an arm in front of Aiko's suddenly taut face before she could boil over. "Enough. We didn't come here to argue. I'm sure that Mr. Rosea is just as concerned about Jiachi-kun as we are. He just shows it differently."

"He is", Mrs. Rosea agreed gratefully, just as capable of sensing tensions ramping up as Mira was. "We are. It's just that we thought we had taught him better than this."

"Where did he go?", Aiko asked her, ignoring the father's angry attempts to protest. "Where would he have gone that he was forbidden to go?"

Mr. Rosea's phone did what his voice couldn't then, cutting into the conversation and leaving them to watch him take the incoming call in bewildered silence.

It wasn't a long call. But when it was over, the man's face became too drained even for his tan to compensate for, his movements suddenly sluggish, no longer powered by the indignant rage from before.

"Dear...? What is it? Is it Jiachi?"

When he spoke, it was like the air was being forced through a choke point, barely enough to generate audible sound. The look on his face said more than him, but listening carefully told the entire story.

"No. Not Jiachi. That... that was Serizawa. Gentaro, I mean... my father... he just passed away."

The names were unfamiliar to the girls, but it was easy to sense just how much they meant by Mrs. Rosea's reaction to it which, if anything, felt more pronounced than her husband's. She walked over and embraced him, her kind eyes focused on his face to the exclusion of everything else. "I'll always remember how I felt when my father went. Just remember that I'm here for you now, dear. And always. You can cry if you want to."

Mr. Rosea looked like he would very much like to do that for a while, but a stubborn refusal to show weakness in front of strangers was holding back his floodgates.

That, and something else he hadn't mentioned yet. "It's alright... we knew his heart was giving out. It was never a question of 'if, but 'when'. But... Jiachi. Jiachi was there when it happened, according to Serizawa. And when it did, he got upset, and ran..."

 _Ran._ The last word triggered danger senses in Aiko and she stood up from her chair. She nodded courteously to the Roseas, all previous tensions forgotten now, and sprinted out the door to catch a breath of fresh air. _Ran. Ran where? Where would he go?_

Mirambela at her side, she looked up into the sunlit sky where clouds had begun to gather atop the heart of the city.

She could have sworn that the sky itself was speaking to someone. Someone who wasn't her.

* * *

5/12 Sunday

Afternoon

 _How far will you go?_

 _How much more will you willingly endure, until you can't handle the cruel reality that you're forced to submit to?_

 _Vow to me._

 _Vow to me, and I'll deliver you from your troubles, and create a world you'll never want to leave._

The noise was barely perceptible, but still enough to bring Pelagio out of a lethargy that he considered to be shameful for the one whom his leader had assigned to watch over the Yume Bay.

Especially at this critical time, the time when the great burning globe which humans called 'the sun' appeared to set directly into the sea. He had since learned that this was merely a dramatic optical illusion, brought about by the planet's orbit causing its star to pass out of Japan's sight until the next day began, but there was no denying the moment of its power, its ability to stir the hearts and imaginations of humans the world over.

If it wasn't capable of doing that, then there would have been no need to worry. There would have been no special portal to Faraway Lands appearing in a rectangle of light that defied description of its color at some times and reverted to a brilliant phantasmal green at others. He would not have been there, and would never have met Aiko, or Mira, or any other human.

Given the harm this gate had caused so far, he wasn't sure if he considered that a fair trade.

But the noise was what he was sure of, unmistakable to his enhanced senses, and it was growing louder now. Just one young human alone, slightly heavier than his friends tromping through the sand beneath unused storm clouds with a vacant, defeated pace.

"Julian Rosea", Pelagio recognized the cinnamon brown haired human, though no one else would understand his words as speech, merely the incoherent noises of a normal bird. _It's just as my lady feared. I must keep him away from the gate at all costs!_

Continuing his limp march towards the light, Julian did not seem to acknowledge the presence of Pelagio until the guardian's talons were nearly upon him. While past experience with Benihime Kujou and Tongwa Byzael had showed him how to avoid cutting too deeply into flesh, he also wanted to make his message absolutely clear. No one was to enter the gate. If he had to shed a bit of the boy's blood to get that statement across, then so be it.

The small injury finally got a reaction out of him, albeit subdued. "Damn", Julian remarked in a voice suffused with sadness. "Even mother nature hates me now, huh? Can't blame her. What was that story called? Ah, whatever."

Then, he started walking again. With a wordless screech of fury, Pelagio wheeled around for another power dive... only to hastily break it off as he saw the flash of a new device in the boy's hand. A device he'd seen more often on TV than reality, but a device to be feared nonetheless. An oval barrel and brown-plated handle, the thin curve of the trigger mechanism connecting the two.

"A gun?!", he exclaimed while trying to find another angle of attack that wouldn't guarantee his own death. "But you are an adolescent human! How could you have possibly attained one of those weapons?"

Julian, of course, didn't respond to this meaningless noise from a bird. He was typing something into his cell phone with his other hand. A brief private message, after which he discarded that device into the sand, leaving only the gun. With his eyes, Pelagio could read it just before the phone sent it:

' _I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-chan. I can't be the man you deserve. I have to be free. I'm going now.'_

"Won't be needing that any more", Julian noted in the same defeated voice. "Can't keep that if I want to be free."

"Idiotic human!", Pelagio screeched into the wind's deafening song, no longer caring if Julian couldn't understand a word he said. "There is no _freedom_ for you lying beyond that gate! Only illusions and death!"

For a moment, ever so slowly, Julian held the gun further up, exactly as if he was about to press it against his own temple to fire... and then, as he lowered it back down at the same rate and began swaying drunkenly towards the gate's light once more, Pelagio realized that he'd been wrong.

That cylinder that the boy had used to threaten him off hadn't been metal. It shone in the light like plastic. _A model gun! Foolishness!_

Pelagio swooped with renewed strength, knowing this to be his last chance.

 _I will not fail! My lady assigned me to protect humans from the powers of this gate! I will not allow this! I must stop him! I will not-_

The boy had lowered his plastic toy. That was what he couldn't understand. He wasn't even looking at Pelagio when the gunshot rang out from everywhere and nowhere, the pain and sudden blasting sensation striking him before the sound did, cutting off the torrent of frantic thoughts and replacing them with raw animal pain overload until nothing else in the world existed.

He couldn't act. He couldn't think. He could only _hurt._

He came awake flat on the shore a moment later, still able to see the gate's flickering light... but not the boy he had been assigned to save. _No! I can't..._

The boy was gone, but there was a sound issuing from the gate's emerald light, faint enough that normal humans would mistake it for the breeze.

It was Jiachi's own voice, stripped of its prior depression and then some, beginning with a dry chuckle before speaking to him with a smugness that he ached to address personally. If only he could _stand_...

"Heheh. See ya, little birdie... Checkmate!"

 _No... no!_ By the time he was back up, the gate's light had followed the sun's lead and dwindled down to a mere spark. As he swooped through it, that disappeared too. The waves on the coast began to lap at his body with a renewed energy.

He'd failed. That was the last thought going through his head until everything was gone.

 _Save me from that bloody destiny..._

* * *

A/N: I hope that qualifies as enough of a 'wham episode' to catch more people's interest going forward.

LeTranger: Thanks for the rev, glad to see you're enjoying it so far. I actually did consider that to be appropriate background music for this, and not just because Byzael's ship has an Irish name. For a while I actually tried writing a battle and intro theme as seafaring or Irish punk songs, but couldn't quite work out any good lyrics.

I'd say just use what you like for the background, but some of the better violin stuff in Fairy Tail was another influence. You could also use the song names I've been using as chapter titles.

And yes, I adore Crimson, it was one of my main inspirations for this story and it manages to update way more often than I do.


	20. Strength of Heart

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/13 Monday

After School

Mirambela astounded her by volunteering to skip a day of classes in order to look after Pelagio after they had found him lying on the beach the previous night. They'd rushed him to the Tosashimizu's veterinarian animal hospital and secured a promise that they would do their very best to look after him.

And that was just about only thing that allowed Aiko to focus at all on the new post-midterm material in class, if only just. Mr. Takao in particular seemed disappointed not to see his homeroom's highest-scoring student back for the next stage of their education, and Aiko decided in the end to tell him something close to the truth.

"W-we found a bird injured on the shore yesterday, brought it to the vet's. Mira-chan wants to make sure it's alright."

"She's a very compassionate girl", their homeroom teacher remarked, cheery to the point that it clashed with the current situation. "Much like you. Still, I wouldn't advise taking it as a pet, even if it recovers. Those things poop more than you'd believe possible. Just let the vets take care of it. They're the professionals, after all."

But his words didn't stop her from going through the rest of the day in a near trance state, eyes open but seeing nothing except the limp falcon's body sprawled on the shore like a discarded children's toy.

 _I shouldn't have left him alone._ That was the thought that kept creeping back into her. _I knew that Faraway Lands was dangerous, yet I let him watch the gate all alone. If I'd left him with Mira, gone to visit the Rosea house myself, none of this would have happened._

She'd taken him for granted, she decided. While Mira had been a highly visible presence in the past week with her pressure on studying and willingness to help her roommate, Pelagio had faded into the background of her consideration, viewed as nothing but the blindly loyal servant he'd first professed himself to be. She simply assumed that he could take care of himself when left to his own devices, flying freely to anywhere in Koichi that he wanted to go while his human friends were stuck in school. _All this time he tried to play the gallant protector, but who protects him?_

 _Never again._

To her relief, Pelagio had recovered enough after class to inform them of the true nature of his injury when they visited him in the large glass pen that was used to secure animals that were no longer undergoing operations, but not yet cleared to leave. "It was a cognitive bullet", he explained in a pained voice from a small woven pillow that had been brought in for him to nestle on. "I did not realize until now that it came out of the gate when I tried to stop sir Rosea from entering."

"Someone _shot_ you from in there? From inside of Faraway Lands?" She'd been incredulous, though careful not to alarm the nurses too much. "A Shadow?"

"Most likely. I heard the Shadow speaking to me before the gate shut." His feathers ruffles themselves on instinct, and he winced horribly from the pain shooting through his wing bones. "Taunting me. For my failure."

The meager silver lining to everything that had happened was that a 'cognitive' bullet from the other world didn't permanently lodge itself in the body, merely inflicting the kind of damage a normal bullet would have to the left wing muscle it had pierced, but without any lingering sign of what had caused it. Of course, the stern-jawed head veterinarian tasked with looking after Pelagio hadn't known that. He merely acknowledged optimistically that the wound was nowhere near as bad as a true bullet wound _should_ have been on a bird of his size, and it didn't get lodged in him like it should have.

"They said it was just a grazing shot", Mirambela said, equally as dour as Aiko about what had happened. "They say that sometimes, awful people decide to hunt or torment animals for fun."

Aiko veiled her eyes with her hand, arranging her thoughts carefully. _No. Don't cry. Don't cry._ She couldn't cry. Not now. Not when both Pelagio and Julian were counting on her not to fall apart in a crisis.

"Well, they're not wrong." Sadness transmuted into fury much easier than she thought possible, and even Mirambela looked like she was scared at what she saw in those normally pleasant eyes, all too aware of the spirit of her friend's Persona.

"When I get through with the Shadow who did that to him... He'll _beg_ me to take him as a mask. And I'll say no. I'll let him suffer."

"You might have to wait on that", Mira shuddered. "We can't even go there until Pela-tori recovers. We'd just fall into the water, and according to him, that would be very bad for us even if we can swim well."

Comprehending just how badly they'd fouled up and stymied at every chance to fix it, she could only settle for punching the room door hard and dropping a few more words she'd promised her mother not to use. "I know. I know. We have to go save Julian-kun from there... but we can't even get started on that until he recovers. How long?"

Mira shrugged helplessly. "The doctor wasn't specific. A few days, maybe more."

She nodded back sadly. "Alright. I don't want to rush him or anything, but as soon as he's back, we need to get going. The waves are strong right now, but they won't stay that way forever."

Mira's eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She blinked. "Oh, right. I guess we never told you." Going to the window, she pointed to the wild waves crashing against the shore near the hill with the peach tree. "See how that suddenly kicked up yesterday?"

"Uh-huh. All the fishing boats around here pulled in to avoid it."

"Well, that's actually because Julian-kun is in the other world now. It's kind like a... time limit."

Mira started out at the dark waters spread before them, beginning to comprehend what she meant. After the early rain yesterday it would only be natural, but it was true that the tide had remained in the same placid state for over a week until now. "S-so, after a certain number of days...?"

"After a certain amount of time, the waves will start to settle down, and become completely calm. Then, the tide will go out. When _that_ happens, if Julian-kun is still in there... then he can't ever leave. His body will wash up on that shore without its soul, just like Furusato-san. Another dead student..."

Mira's jaw fell. "No wonder you were so desperate to get me out of there! I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time about that!"

"It's alright", she waved her off. _Water under the bridge._ "As we talked about earlier, you weren't thinking clearly then." Leaning against the window, she sighed. "Julian-kun's probably going through something like that over there right now. He's in a dream world where whatever problems drove him there don't exist, and the Shadows gathered there serve him in whatever he wants."

Neither of them could comprehend what exactly such a Land would be like. There had been some signs after talking with his parents and visiting his room, but only signs. The only way to find out for sure would be to actually travel there and see it for themselves.

"Which is another problem", Mira realized out loud. "We know where my Land is. It's not too far from the gate, but... where is Julian-kun's Land? We have no idea what it'll even look like, and that's a big ocean to search through."

She spoke the truth, Aiko knew... but saying that they would have to rely entirely on exploration and guesswork seemed like too much of an abandonment. "It'll be big", she guessed hopefully. "Bigger than the usual islands, at least the size of yours if not more. Maybe Pela-tori will be able to do something to find it. You can speed us up, right?"

"With pleasure", Mira remembered. "Oya's power is at your command, 'Saber'."

"No", Aiko forced a grim smile. "It's at yours. You're Dancer. I'm Saber. I've got multiple Personas on call, but none of them can do what yours does. I didn't want to ask you this... I know you don't like us risking our lives in that place..."

Mira grabbed her hand. "That's right. I don't. But, if we're really the only ones who can save Julian-kun... then that's exactly what we'll do once Pelagio is back to normal. _Wee die skaduees."_

 _Woe be to the Shadows._

* * *

5/13 Monday

Evening

The unexpected bump of the deck of the 'Velvet ship' brought Aiko back to consciousness. Though she now knew that this place was, as Igor had told her, a space between dreams and reality, it seemed to be just as affected by the tumult of Faraway Lands as anywhere in it.

Another thing which drew her eye before Igor began to speak from his table was that she was in her favorite dress, the checkered black and white one with the bow despite going to bed in pajamas.

"So, the process has started anew", the strange, long-nosed man remarked. Time away from this place had dulled her memory to just how bizarre an appearance he put on, though the blue-garbed attendant standing at his side was more familiar. "Another lost soul has sought their salvation in the sea of human subconsciousness, and may lend to its strength if not saved from their despair."

Aiko gave Bartholomew a friendly smile before setting her hands down on Igor's table. "That won't happen. I _won't_ let it. No matter what, I'll save him just like I saved Mira-chan."

"Your confidence is encouraging, Dream Voyager", Bartholomew remarked. "However, you must take the utmost caution in this. Knowledge among the Shadows is widespread. Some of them may well be aware of your existence already, and seek to deny your victory by other means."

"In other words, they might know we're coming?"

"Yes." The one-eyed attendant looked even more concerned now, tugging on the rope of one of the cages he had installed for Persona fusion. "While many Shadows have already fallen at your hands, to the stronger of their ilk, news of a dangerous Persona-user disturbing their illusions is merely a challenge for them to prove their strength by destroying your own dreams and wishes."

"Indeed", Igor seconded, the same eerie grin never leaving his face. "Your situation grows dire as you pursue your goal further. The wild cards of the past faced similar escalations of power in their own journeys, and so shall you."

"Which is why you wanted me to learn Persona fusion", she deduced, glancing at the cages. "Because you knew something like this would happen again, and I would need better masks to beat the Shadows."

Arms clasped to her sides to block out the sudden cold of the room, she gave a wistful smile. "You know, despite how serious this mission is, I have to say I'm kind of looking forward to trying out Lilim and Jack Frost on some Shadows. And not just because Jack is really cute."

Bartholomew snickered, though not entirely in jest. "You should not choose your masks based on appearance, but rather their capability. You are welcome to fuse additional Personas whenever you should visit this room."

"I will", she promised. "If the Shadows get tougher, then so will I." Turning from the cages, her thoughts wandered back to Igor's greeting. "Mr. Igor, what is _causing_ all of this, anyway? This 'world regression'? Mira-chan said that she heard a voice calling to her from the gate when it opened. Her own voice, telling her that the world of her dreams was waiting on the other side."

Igor's massive eyes pored over the oak table as if searching it for answers to her question. "The voice your friend heard was her other self, the suppressed portion of her consciousness which sought an escape from her despair in illusion."

"The boy who has now entered Faraway Lands was no doubt beckoned by a similar voice", Bartholomew offered. "Only they would be able to hear those voices, as it was their own minds which spoke to them."

Her eyes widened and her hands clenched. If she'd been holding something, it would have been broken. "Then... then _that_ was the one. That's the who hurt Pelagio. Julian-kun's Shadow."

"A reasonable assumption. That will be the absolute strongest Shadow in your friend's Land, and one that cannot be persuaded to surrender by anyone except for his true self."

"I wasn't planning on taking _that_ one as a mask", she said darkly, remembering her fury from before. "But this can't have been happening as often as it has now for very long. People would notice. They couldn't just ignore it forever."

"Very perceptive", the attendant said. "The sea of souls has changed a great deal in the past several months. While it has remained a sanctuary of sorts for souls fully lost to despair for quite some time, it acted in that capacity only in extreme cases up until now. Furthermore, the gate which you employ to travel there did not exist until recently."

"I heard a voice", Aiko confessed, suddenly feeling as nervous as she had on her first trip to the Velvet room. "When I first went into the gate to chase after Mira-chan. It said... 'Welcome to my home, where time stands still and humanity shall become as Gods'."

Though nothing could pierce Igor's disturbing veneer, Bartholomew looked troubled by her words. "The sea of souls is no one's home, dream voyager. Or rather, it is the home of all of humanity's hidden thoughts and aspirations. No single being, not even my master, has been so audacious as to lay claim to it."

"This one did", she said thoughtfully. "He sounded like an adult... but not old. Definitely a male, and he didn't sound like he was a native. Do you think he's the one behind the changes in Faraway Lands?"

"A reasonable assumption", Igor spoke up, grinning rigidly. "In the past, the sea of human consciousness has fallen victim to various deities formed from the thoughts which reside there, whenever the time comes that they grow numerous enough to exert true power."

"Nyx", Bartholomew told her by way of explanation, doffing his uniform's cap. "The God of Death was originally born from that sea, out of humanity's collective desire to die. Eventually, it harnessed enough power to cross over into your world and grant that wish from the top of Tartarus."

"But... that was so many years ago!", she argued, staring into the floorboards. It hurt to think about these things too much. "I was like, three years old, and I don't remember _any_ of this happening. People really wanted to die that badly?"

"Many humans did", Bartholomew reminded her firmly. "But others still possessed the ability to cherish life. Their desire to go on living was enough to counter the collective wish to end it, and banish the God of Death... though as we have discussed, the price of that victory was high."

She nodded back. "And you said that there was more than one... then I need to know, no matter how scary it is. I want to know everything about the other incidents, Bart-kun. Maybe... maybe if I learn how they handled this, I'll be better prepared for next time."

The attendant and his hook-nosed master looked as though they had expected nothing else from her.

* * *

5/14 Tuesday

After School

"Pela-tori's still recovering", Aiko told the attendant who had once again traveled to join her in the human world. "The doctor says they want to make sure he can move without pain, and we can't really tell him that we need him soon."

Fishing at the shore had done nothing to calm her mood. Lacking anything else particularly novel that could be done with her current budget, they had settled on visiting a shrine different from the one that Noel and Kotone went to. This one boasted traditional shinto architecture, dedicated not to the Christian God, but to a native Japanese one- Okuninushi.

"If anyone wants to leave early, it's Pela-tori", she continued, observing the rituals and leaving a small donation before they entered. "He's still beating himself up over not stopping Julian-kun."

"It is most unfortunate", Bartholomew mused once they had entered the shrine, "that so much of our duties must be accomplished in secret. While the few humans who are able to break the chains upon their hearts and accept their other selves can perceive of all things connected to the other world, the majority remain ignorant. They are unable to accept that any reality exists beyond their masks. With a few small exceptions, the veil between the worlds remains unbreakable as ever."

Surveying the red candles arranged around them as though each flame was the fragile soul of another human, she reluctantly nodded. "Mira-chan told the police the full story, and they refused to believe any of it. If I went to them now and asked for help, they would yell at me for wasting their time with 'nonsense'." _Maybe detective Nijima would believe_ , she considered silently. _But that wouldn't be enough._

"Collective ignorance", the attendant repeated, "is in fact, the driving factor of the next Shadow-related incident to befall humanity after the Kirijo group incident. It begin not unlike your own situation- with a seemingly unsolvable murder in a small, out of the way country town called Inaba. Two of them, in fact."

That idea made her very still, the waving candlelight silhouetting her features. "Two people dead. How?"

"Because a human devoid of morals gained the power of Persona", Bartholomew said, his voice betraying not even a hint of the burning anger she was feeling. "That human took great amusement in watching the world's panicked reaction to such incidents on television, all the while hiding himself behind a mask of innocence. To him, all that resulted from those deaths was the entertainment he felt he was owed in such a stagnant environment as a small country town."

" _Entertainment?_ ", Aiko spat furiously as her shoe ground into the floor. "That's horrible!"

"At that time", he continued without further opinion, "the subconscious world manifested itself as a special, hidden TV channel. Those who were destined for the same fate as the initial victims would appear first on the local news programs, and then their Shadow would begin to appear upon the 'Midnight Channel', declaring to its viewers their suppressed desires at the same time as the victim would disappear. If the victim was not rescued from the Midnight Channel in time... the Shadows would devour them."

"I've suddenly lost the desire to watch TV tonight", she remarked, trying to stay at least partly glib. "I wonder why."

"However", the attendant said with an edge of impatience creeping into his voice. "That murderer was not the only one entrusted with the power. Another wild card of the same age as you sought to uncover the real truth of the murders regardless of the myriad obstacles, both Shadow and human, arrayed in his way. In fact, the majority of his recruits were the potential murder victims themselves, who were secretly taken by a third individual, a human who mistakenly believed that to bring the targets to the other world was to save them. With the wild card's aid, the targets found the inner strength to accept their suppressed feelings, and transform their Shadows into Personas, escaping their fate."

"Just like with Mira-chan", Aiko remembered, aghast. "Sure, we were the ones who beat up her Shadow... but it didn't actually disappear until she accepted that those feelings were a part of her too. Then, Oya appeared."

"Yes. That is the innate danger of facing oneself with honesty", Bartholomew noted. "The face that we present to the outside world is always required to be very different from our true selves. Sometimes, the mental difference is so vast that if the two should encounter one another in separate bodies, as they so often did on the Midnight Channel, then the violent clash of beliefs between them ignites into an internal conflict, a battle between two portions of one's own consciousness- the mask, and the face beneath it."

"Then", she began, fearing to hear the answer, "what about me? Why didn't _I_ run into my own Shadow when I was there?"

 _Not that I'm complaining about it. That's one experience I can definitely do without, having to deal with a creepy version of me with those yellow eyes and that awful voice reverb... yuck! I guess maybe Kujou counts for that._

"Because your thoughts were not repressed enough to manifest themselves into a Shadow in the other world." He pinched his fingers together admiring how they used the candlelight to create unique shadow shapes along the walls; shadow with a lowercase, thankfully. "Certainly, there are many times that you have thought or believed things contrary to your own words, but those false words never became your truth. You never lost sight of who you truly are, and so your Persona came to you when you traveled to the other world."

"I can't always act on Anne Bonny's spirit", she admitted helplessly. "I've still got school to go to, grades to maintain. Friends to keep. I hate some of the rules there, but I can't break them. Not yet. I'm just a first year student."

Bartholomew actually smiled back at her words. "Yet, you have sought ways around those rules which you would consider unjust? Such as the power of your student disciplinary committee? Or the revival of the school's defunct fencing club?"

"It's a work in progress", she observed, feeling better about her few accomplishments now. "Maybe I can... no. That can wait. _Everything_ needs to wait until we've saved Julian from the other world."

"As it should be", the attendant noted, though he sounded disappointed that she wouldn't reveal whatever plan she had in mind. "The crisis of the Inaba murders seemed to draw to a close with a showdown between the true culprit and the wild card's varied team of Persona-users. However... the one who had given the power to those two to begin with was revealed to have been Izanami-no-Okami- the Goddess of the Dead- who had sought to learn and carry out humanity's true desire by blessing three individuals with her power."

"Three people", she echoed, wondering if any others had been given the power this time, and were merely keeping it a secret as she was. "The wild card, the murderer, and that third one... the one who was tricked into thinking he was saving the victims."

"Yes. The false savior", Bartholomew elaborated sadly. "Lacking in prior experience with the rules of the other world, he nearly caused the death of a young girl who was very close to the wild card as well. Fortunately, the wild card did not allow his personal feelings to cloud his reasoning, and instead he and his investigation team continued seeking the real truth of the crimes, eventually catching the murderer and seeking out the hidden Goddess who had empowered the three."

Aiko gestured her hands at the symbol-coated walls. "So she chose them. But you said that humanity's ignorance was what started all of this?"

The boy's handsome face became harsh once more, casting its own brief shadows. "It was. The Goddess Izanami observed that it was the culprit's actions who had the greatest affect on the minds of the masses. The people of the town of Yaso-Inaba merely accepted the statement of the murders without making any efforts to uncover the truth of the matter. She prepared to fill the world with an eternal fog that would drown out all reason, turning all humanity into mindless Shadows."

Chuckling either at the absurdity of the plan or something else he was hiding away, he spread his arms. "Obviously, the wild card stopped her, or this world would no longer exist in its present state. The majority of humans continued on with their blissfully ignorant lives, never suspecting how close they had come to losing their much-disused ability to think rationally. And so the veil remained."

"And they all lived happily ever after", she finished half-sarcastically for him. "Until the next time, right?"

"Yes." The attendant had grown very still suddenly, fearing the next tale to come. "But I believe that is quite enough for now. Go and free your friend from the illusions that enchain him. Upon your success, we shall discuss the story that I'm sure you have longed to hear... the tale of the Phantom Thieves."

* * *

5/15 Wednesday

After School

Mr. Ishinagi had obviously done this with many students before. Aiko saw that he had rearranged his office from the usual setup, installing a bench and chair outside of his own desk. Beyond that the room was surprisingly spartan, only holding a handful of posters and a short bookshelf. Given the unspoken choice, she selected the chair over the bench, hoping to get this over with quickly.

"I should say", the guidance counselor began, "that I am glad to see that your brief stay in detention was a one time occurrence, miss Tsuruga. There haven't been any further incidents reported since then."

She looked back at him innocently, deciding what words to use. She had known going in that would be tricky, trying to convince him that nothing was wrong with her while also keeping so much hidden away that could not be said out loud.

"I've learned to stay away from Kujou", she said. "And I've met other people here who aren't like _her._ "

He did look troubled by that statement, but likely as not because of anything to do with her. "Miss Kujou does perform her job in the committee with zeal. A bit too much, in my personal opinion. However, that is not my decision to make. Everyone must decide for themselves what actions they consider appropriate."

 _Great. In other words, let anyone do whatever they want so long as they don't break school rules. Fantastic._ She hoped the anger burning inside her didn't show, but the expression on Mr. Ishinagi's normally relaxed face suggested otherwise. His poise and glasses did remind her a bit of their principal, who had arranged this whole meeting to start with, but he was significantly older-looking, to the point that she began to wonder if Ishinagi was one of the teachers rumored to be resentful of Yumika attaining his position at the seemingly impossible age of 38. _Not that I should put any stock in those kinds of rumors, but I would like to know what exactly their relationship is._

"I can sense your anger", he said, pulling her back to hard reality. "Many of our students struggle with similar problems with repressed anger, born from resentment of some figure in their lives that they blame for their troubles."

 _Huh... that sounded kind of like what Mira-chan said earlier. Maybe he should be giving this speech to a JCAP rally._

"I have read your background as well. You chose to transfer from Akihabara to this school when various others far closer to home in Tokyo would have accepted you." Leaning back to try and lessen the tension between them, he spread both arms. "Is there anything that you'd like to tell me about that?"

Suddenly feeling very tired, she slowly nodded. "I guess. I had... problems with my mom. I wanted to get away from her for a while."

"I see. When you are angry, then... are you thinking about your mother during that time? When you shoved miss Kujou, were you holding an image of her in your head?"

Aiko shook that notion away easily. "Not really. I found other people here I hate more. And I _have_ been talking to her lately. We never talked that much when we were together in one house, at least not since I was a kid."

He gave an understanding nod. "So you find it easier to talk with her at a distance instead of in person. Why do you believe that is?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. I guess I know that she can't toss me out of the house for saying something wrong now."

That drew his attention. "And why do you think she would ever do such a cruel thing?"

 _Because I'm a bastard child?_ The thought wandered in before she could quell it, brought back to the fore by her earlier talk with Mira about it.

"Because..." It hurt her head to speak. "Because. She always acted like I was a burden. Like she never wanted me. She was thrilled when she heard I wanted to take room and board here instead of going back home every day. So was I."

"I see", he repeated mechanically. "A single parent certainly faces an undue amount of stress, trying to raise a child alone in today's environment. Yet, here you are, healthy in body and, as near as I can tell, decently fed."

 _Your mother suffers under a curse of grief,_ she remembered Bartholomew's words. _Yet one day, it may be lifted._

"I'm glad to see that you're already making efforts to rebuild that relationship", Mr. Ishinagi advised her gently. "Not just for your sake, but for hers. It's always a good idea to avoid leaving things on such a note with those who care for you, even if you have grievances with them at the time."

Something in his tone just then smacked of personal experience with the concept, and she was temporarily taken up with interest. It didn't last however- the counselor continued on with more psychobabble about families and how their structures affected a person's character growing up and a million other things she could have easily guessed at herself.

 _Let's just get this waste of time over with already so I can go save Julian._ The brazenness of that statement out of context brought a giddy smile to her lips, and he mistook it for something he had brought on. _Look, I get it. I have a temper sometimes. I used to get mad whenever my mom called me. I get mad when I see people suffering and no one helping them. And yes, sometimes, that anger gets me in trouble._

That temper was what had made her try so hard to help Mirambela. What had brought her to Faraway Lands originally. That temper had been the catalyst to awakening her Persona's dark fury, her 'other self'.

The dark fury which had saved her friends numerous times, though it was that same fury which had visibly scared Mirambela a few days ago. Had nearly made Pelagio abandon her, though in hindsight it was a good thing that she'd done that and made him understand things better.

The fury which had gotten her stern words from Mrs. Mattora and occasionally Mr. Noriyama. According to the former, proper Japanese girls weren't supposed to get angry. If they did, they would never find boyfriends, and never get husbands.

 _Anger,_ she decided silently, _is like fire. It's useful in small qualities, keeps you warm and lets you cook stuff... but too much and you burn everything down around you. Have to keep that in check, for now. Can't get too mad when I see that Shadow who shot Pela-tori, or I might make another stupid mistake and get someone else hurt. No. Have to control it._

"...Beyond that, difficulties with suppressed anger are perfectly normal for people your age. It may be more readily visible in the young males, but it affects us all in different ways. It has to be expressed in some form or another, or worse side effects are inevitable. Whatever is making you so angry, miss Tsuruga, I would be perfectly happy to talk with you about in future sessions. Whatever you choose to talk to me about, I won't repeat outside of this room."

"Very professional, thank you", she remarked cautiously, not wanting to offend him in any way and give him reason to extend the session any longer. Fifteen more minutes of this and there was no way she would catch the bus to the vet's in time.

Mr. Ishinagi humbly pointed upwards with one finger to the various degrees and plaques hung on his wall, too far away to actually read. "There are other guidance counselors of course, but I don't think it arrogant of me to say that I'm the one most qualified to perform in that role. As long as more troubled youth continue to come to this school, I'm glad to help them in whatever way I'm able to."

 _So that's what you think. That's what the principal thinks. That I'm a 'troubled child', and it's your duty to help turn me back into a happy obedient student. Because there's something 'wrong' with me the way I am. Because of that fury. Because of Anne Bonny, my 'true self'._

 _Well... maybe._

But she didn't think even the best shrink in all of the Japan, or even the world, would be able to deal with the issues weighing on her mind right now. Not even if she explained every detail of Faraway Lands to them first, and talking about that would probably be grounds for something far more permanent than a few extra sessions with a counselor. _More like an institution, like the rumors say._

In a way, she envied Mira. Whatever else might have happened to her, she seemed to have much better self-control than her when it came to anger. Their talk on the bus after the fiasco at Cape Ashizuri came to mind. Mira understood her reasons, and never let it control her after seeing her Land... and her Shadow.

"So can I go now?"

The words were uttered so fast they betrayed her haste, and Mr. Ishinagi merely chuckled warmly. "Always in such a rush, miss Tsuruga. But I still remember being that way too, back when I was your age. Very well then. All that's left for today is a checkup."

"Checkup?" The principal hadn't said anything about that.

Obligingly, he had already begun to rummage through his desk for some equipment. "Yes. Just a minor one. I've been asked to take everyone's blood pressure and body temperature as well. Principal Yumika is very concerned, particularly in the wake of Mr. Rosea's sudden disappearance."

Preparing the patch and pump in short order, he sighed heavily. "Of course, there is the possibility that he left merely to avoid this session with me, and we'll see him return in a few more days, ignorant of the panic he is causing."

"I sure hope so", Aiko said, trying not to feel disgusted by the man's casual attitude. _He doesn't know. He doesn't know. He can't know. If I didn't know, I'd entertain that idea myself. He's not being a jerk. He's just being a counselor._

The checkup lasted all of ten minutes, and then she must have broken some kind of record darting out of the main building towards the bus stop, desperate to get to the vet's.

Arriving there, she saw a rainy sky and no students or other passengers. For three whole minutes she believed she'd missed it, and was brewing up an extravagantly crude dissertation of Mr. Ishinagi and the principal and every student that had ever made fun of her temper until that familiar light shone through the mist to answer her prayers.

* * *

5/17 Friday

Lunch

 _KS: five days now... have you seen Jiachi at all?_

 _AT: sorry, no luck. Talked with his parents, they said he's going through some stuff_

 _KS: they shouldn't pull him out of school w/o a reason tho_

 _MS: he'll be back eventually_

 _KS: omg, u think he ran away?_

 _MS: ...maybe. But his parents love him. I think he'll tealise that_

 _MS: realise*_

 _AT: you think we can go check on him today?_

 _MS: mayb. I'll check_

 _KS: was talking with Rurichiyo-kun and he said he lied about getting on the soccer team?_

 _AT: yep, I checked. guess he didn't want ppl to know_

 _KS: think he'll still want to go to fencing?_

 _AT: no idea_

 _Anon: you are so ugly you should go drink bleach and die_

Aiko stared into her phone, seeing nothing but the message that had suddenly popped into what had until that point been a fairly civil, if useless, conversation. _What the hell, this is a private chat._

 _KT: wtf_

 _AT: just a troll. whatever, I'll redo the chat_

A minute later they had a fresh chat log, though Kotone and Mira seemed reluctant to say much now. A minute after that...

 _Anon: slutty whore why dont you go fuk more gaijin_

 _Impossible,_ was all that she could think. The only way to join a private chat was to have the contact information of one of the participants. But the icon representing the new arrival didn't match any of her friend's phones. It was a fresh login.

 _Someone with access to my contact information then. But who?_

 _AT: sry, guess my contact info got leaked. I'll change it and share it with you tomorrow in class._

 _KT: K cya then_

 _MS: see you soon, Ai-chan_

There was another message from 'anonymous' too, but Aiko deliberately slid her eyes away from it and closed her phone. _Like we don't have enough to deal with already. Shadows hurl fire or ice or lightning at us, but not abusive language... to my knowledge._

Mira's arrival cheered her up though, as the taller girl arrived with Pelagio's body cradled in her arms. They prepared a cloth for him to lie on, but it soon became clear that he was in no mood to be pampered.

"I _failed_ you, my lady", he whispered through a dour beak, or maybe that was his default expression in his falcon form. "I failed you. I await your punishment."

Aiko fought back the urge to face palm. "There's no need for that. I think that you've been punished quite enough already, Pelagio. Did the doctors treat you well?"

Pelagio _harumphed_ loud enough that she worried someone else in the dorm might hear. "Hmph. That _barbarian_ was quite overly fond of sticking cold metal instruments beneath my wings and putting strange pills in my mouth! When I am capable of full flight again, I shall most certainly defecate on his car until he apologizes."

"You can do that later", she promised, trying not to grin. "Even if you can't fly right yet, we need you in Faraway Lands. Are you sure you're okay to go today?"

"I await your order. Eagerly."

Fortunately, there was no one on the beach to spot them carrying swimsuits and a temporarily flightless bird into the cave near Yume Bay. No one else wanted to go out there in the ominous mix of cold air and stronger rain coming.

The rain did nothing to stop the gate from appearing, however. If anything, it seemed to push the drops away, leaving a small area around it nearly dry. Mira stared into its green light, alternately fascinated and repulsed by it.

"When we can", she said calmly, "we need to record this. People have to know."

"If they want to know, they will", Aiko replied, flashing back to her last talk with Bartholomew about the nature of the other world, and the 'veil'. "But most of them don't. Our world's scary enough as it is."

The taller girl nodded, holding Pelagio just a bit too tightly before releasing him onto the sand. "Be careful, alright? I know you want to make up for what happened, but the doctor said you'll still feel that injury for a while yet. Don't push yourself."

Looking odd as his talons lifted him across the sand at a slow clip, Pelagio stared back enigmatically. "Perhaps. But the enemy will not wait for us forever."

"And we won't wait for them either", Aiko agreed ruefully, some of that earlier fury- of Ann Bonny- shining through a normally kind expression. "Time for the three of us to save another life. No matter what it takes."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, I always take feedback into consideration. Right now I'm growing increasingly worried that giving Aiko Tsuruga a Persona protagonist's qualities may have made her dangerously close to a 'Mary Sue' (they avoid this in the games since the character is personalized enough to considered an avatar of the player), but hopefully this chapter counters that a bit, showing the flaws.

That One Boi: Don't worry, we will get to Noel's Land too. I will try to create more non-protagonist POV parts going forward. We'll get to Julian's Land next time.

Ford 1114: Good breakdown of what's happened so far.


	21. These Violent Delights

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/17 Friday

After School

The Leviathan Shadows were restless today, and only after the third one fell to his cannons did Pelagio spot a sign of their goal through the orange-backed murk, sailing past the desolate wreck of Mira's hyper-technological forest without comment.

" _There_ ", he announced as his course was adjusted. "That one wasn't there during our last visit. It looks... odd."

"Not surprising", Aiko commented, leaning out over the rail to behold the place for herself. "It's a _Land_."

Still, she had to admit that this place defied their expectations. It began as a great cluster of heavy, dusty-looking rocks jutting up out of the water, forming an enormous drum rock at the top, but some kind of source further inside was flooding it with so much sunlight that it was impossible to see any kind of detail beyond the outer layer. The golden light spilled out through the cracks, making the entire Land appear to glow from within like an old-fashioned lantern.

A quick circle around revealed a single sandy shore as an entry point, protruding out of the main body like a tongue licking up the water, but upon arriving there the trio saw that the sand also extended into the Land itself, the dark rock ceiling transitioning into a bright blue sky without a single cloud. The sun-baked plains stretched out before them were completely flat, but hardly featureless- a row of structures rose from the plains, the most prominent among them being a tall wooden gate bearing the black stenciled name 'FREEDOM CITY'.

Choking back on the miasma of dust that seemed to be ever present here, Aiko surveyed the rows of wooden structures beyond with a mixture of wonderment and resignation. "Way bigger on the inside than the outside, definitely... and it was pretty big on the outside too. I figured it might be something like this after what we saw in his movie collection."

This dusty plain could only be a cognitive world, a mental fabrication. Only in this dimension could a place adhere so completely perfectly to every single commonality and 'rule' about spaghetti western action films. Multiple saloons were visible from here in various degrees of prosperity with the sound of some plonky piano song echoing from within, as well as a thick-walled bank and a heavily-barred jail. In the exact center of the town square, numerous boards had been put together with a rope hanging down from the top beam to create a primitive gallows. A dark plume of smoke from behind the town hall denoted the presence of a steam rail line and station.

Horses could be seen tied up to various wooden poles to prevent them escaping, and every human cognition they saw stuck firmly to the setting's 'dress code', most prominent among them being the wide-brimmed cowboy hats of brown, white and black on nearly every adult male in the vicinity. Tumbleweeds drifted raggedly about on the thick breeze, and most strikingly of all, the very dust present in the air seemed to affect the golden sunlight raining down on the town from above, somehow altering its color into a grainy sepia shade just like the kind seen in older films of that type.

Pelagio initially feared a response from the local cognitions, but they seemed more concerned with their own business. They walked around and talked with each other as though everything was normal, as if a bird-knight, a pirate and a dancer hadn't wandered into their midst from nowhere.

All except one, a crotchety voice calling out to them. "Hey there. Haven't seen folks like you 'round these parts before. Did you come from the gulch, or the mine?"

Aiko followed the sound to an elderly man mounted in a rocking chair on the porch of one of the ramshackle houses. His beard looked like it ought to be longer like the rest of his hair, but it had been cut off just beneath the chin, appearing as large gray bristles. Though his skin showed his age and the possible side effects of the lit cigar clenched in his lips, his dark tweed clothes looked fresh and new.

 _Of course they're new,_ she thought. _This entire place didn't exist until six days ago._

"Um. Actually, we're not from around here", she replied defensively. "We're, uh, looking for someone."

The man took a drag and chuckled hoarsely. "Well, I'm someone, much as some folks 'round here might argue with me about it. But hey now, you say you're from the outside?"

Pelagio shot her a look he didn't use often, silently scolding her for once again making the grave mistake of speaking to a Land's cognitions and risking unwanted attention. Aiko ignored it- the fastest way to learn Julian's location would be to ask around, and Mira seemed to agree.

"Yes, sir", she said. "We're not from this Land."

Previously faded, scarred eyes lit up at that revelation, and the man leaned closer. "Best to keep that quiet if you can. The Sheriff and his deputies ain't too fond of outsiders here."

Aiko doubted it would be so simple to keep that a secret with how they looked. At least there was one person here who would be helpful. "What's your name, sir?"

The man removed his cigar and gave another light chuckle. "Well missy, I reckon that depends on who you'd be askin', eh? If you ask the folks 'round here, they'd say my name is George Rosea. Not that I mind, 'course."

 _George Rosea? Some relation of Julian we haven't met?_

"Though, if you'd be askin' a few other folks outside the city, they'd call me Gentaro Rosea." Sensing their apprehension, the man shrugged casually. "Don't really matter to me one way or another, but for safety's sake, I'd say you folk had best call me George. Or just 'old man', if y'all like. I'm not real particular."

 _Gentaro. The one who died, Julian's grandfather. And Julian was there with him when it happened..._

Sensing a trap, she flashed a brief look at Pelagio's large eyes before proceeding. "George, then. Can you tell us where your... where Julian-kun is?"

Blinking, he replaced the cigar. "Well now. Guess that's proof you're not from 'round here, if you don't know. The Sheriff's been out huntin' outlaws in Oppressor's Gulch."

"The Sheriff?", Mira repeated uncertainly. "That's Rosea-kun then?"

"Prolly his Shadow", Aiko warned her off. "Remember how yours was sort of running things behind the scenes in your Land, enslaving all the other Shadows?"

She made a pained grimace. "Don't remind me. Anyway, at least we know where to start looking. Oppressor's Gulch, right? Where's that?"

George absently pointed a gnarled finger ahead of them, past the gallows and the stables. "Just gotta keep headin' thataways until you reach the ravine. That's where people who've violated the Sheriff's freedoms went off to, tryin' to avoid the hangman's noose. I hear tell it's a rough kind of place. Better watch yourself if you're goin' there."

"But it's where we've got to go", Aiko told him, nodding courteously. "Thank you, uh, George. You really helped us out."

"Y'all best be careful if you're headed over there", he called as they began walking. "Lots o' nasty critters just waitin' to grab themselves a snack."

 _In other words, Shadows._ "Don't worry, sir. We can handle ourselves."

Once they were clear and the exit gate was visible, she found herself looking into Pelagio's helmet-shuttered eyes once more. "Not so bad. We might be able to get to Julian-kun and have him home before dinner."

Then there was a metal clicking noise behind her and Mira froze up. "Saber..."

Pelagio's own fear eclipsed any smugness he might have otherwise displayed. "Hm. How strange. I believe that humans have a certain saying... about how claiming a task is too easy is an invitation to disaster?"

The men had emerged simultaneously from several blind alleys and doors, each one of them raising an old-fashioned revolver out of their leather holsters. Their appearance had been just as much of a fright to the other cognitions as Aiko's crew, leaving them to scatter back into their homes or simply the nearest building that could hide them.

Looking around in growing worry at the ambush, she counted five men masked by scarves of various colors around their mouths and noses, all of them wearing 'period-appropriate' hide duster jackets of brown and black cowboy hats. Her hand was on the hilt of her blade when a sixth one emerged from the bank, and then Pelagio's talon was clenched tight around her arm.

"I am sorry, my lady. We must refrain from attacking for now. They would shoot us before we could close the distance. Our chances of victory are nearly zero in this circumstance."

He was right, she realized. If the revolvers held by these attackers were anything like guns in the real world, attacking now would see at least one of them dead before it was over. Seeing no other way out, she hesitated.

The sixth man, unique among the group in that he carried two identical pistols on his gun belt of opposing black and white colors and wore a crisp red jacket only slightly dulled by the sepia shades, made a show of cocking his ear at those words while rapidly spinning one of his weapons around rapidly in his other hand like a toy.

"Heh. That's some real good advice coming from your masked friend there. Make just one wrong move, pretty girl... and I'll give you ten seconds to decide if you want to end up in a coffin... or a dumpster."

The three of them all stared back at the enemy leader in alarm, the row of guns pointed at them momentarily forgotten. Though this young man's face was well concealed by the combination of a large hat and a scarf, his bright eyes could still be plainly seen. Even had they not, the unnatural reverb in the leader's voice when he spoke would have brought them to the same conclusion anyway.

A spike of adrenaline propelled Aiko's head back up, so that she could stare back into those acid gold eyes focused on shooting her.

"You. It was **you**. _You're_ that Shadow. You're the one who hurt Pela-tori."

The molten orbs narrowed, and now some distant cousin to Julian's voice was recognizable as he spoke over the low whistling of his spinning gun. "I've hurt a lot of people, girl. Can't remember 'em all. Whenever somebody tries threatening the Sheriff's freedom, the other deputies and me are here to make 'em regret it. Now, I hear tell someone's been asking 'round about findin' the Sheriff." That'd be you, I'd reckon?

The other five seemed to tense up at those words, aiming their weapons ever more precisely. Pelagio was right- if they tried to attack, at least one of them would be shot to death before it was over.

"Heh. Heheh! Jackpot! Don't you worry your pretty little head now", Julian's Shadow said, nodding to one of his men to produce a pair of curved manacles. "You'll get to see the Sheriff alright. Soon as he gets back from catching those outlaws in the gulch. 'Till then, you'll be our honored guests down at the prison."

Every muscle in her body screamed to fight it, to cut and run no matter the consequences, but she held firm. She had to, when those consequences could very well be her friends' lives. The cuffs weren't exactly tight, but she wouldn't be using a sword with them on, and bullets could be loosed before a Persona could be invoked.

They were led away, a joined chain of captives with another of the Shadow's men removing their weapons as they went. All she could do was continue staring a hole into their chief captor's pitiless gaze, memorizing those features as their new enemy.

 _This is not over_ , she thought at him as they passed by. _I_ will _get you._ We _will get you._

The sneering Shadow that hid behind a copy of her friend's face seemed to detect those thoughts in her, and find them amusing, expressing his own inner sentiments with eyes alone for all to perceive without actually speaking in that awful reverb.

 _Try it, pretty girl. I could use the amusement._

* * *

5/17 Friday

The jail cells were every bit as unpleasant as anyone familiar with their new 'setting' might have expected- dingy, dirty, damp and worse things made it difficult to believe that it hadn't even existed until a few short days ago. Pelagio took one look at the barred cells and insisted it was an outrage that the two girls would be put in such 'deplorable' conditions before one of Julian's men smacked him and stuffed him into the leftmost cell.

"I'm sorry", were the first words out of Aiko's mouth once they were all locked up. "I didn't think they were looking for us. It was just like Dancer's Land."

"It was not your fault, Saber", he answered just as quickly, raptor's eyes scanning the entire shabby jail for any avenue of escape. There was none. Just a single guard- one of the men who had brought them in- seated at a desk very much awake, and their weapons stored in bins on the opposite wall. "Better here than dead."

"For how much longer?", she replied, true fear creeping in at last. "I don't think that gallows in the square is just for show, do you?" Her instincts were rarely ever wrong when they were in this dimension. Death would come for them soon if they remained here, maybe even before the real Julian showed up, and she wasn't talking about the Reaper this time.

Mira seemed more calm about it, carefully studying the makeup of the prison like Pelagio had been. "They can't take away our Personas", she announced carefully. "Try destroying the bars!"

Happy to let off some steam, Aiko summoned up Jack Frost before Pelagio shook his head. "I... believe that would be unwise, for much the same reason as I was cautious of the enemy's guns."

With a single command, frost coated the bars holding her in the cramped space, but it melted away just as quickly as it had come. Oya's lightning had a similar result, and then the jailer yelled for them to quiet down, touching his gun holster meaningfully.

"Darn", Aiko threw up her gloved hands in defeat. "Why doesn't it work?!"

"These are not normal bars, my lady", their Guardian explained soberly. "Like those guns, this prison was created from your friend's own subconscious mind. They do not function as they would in your reality, but in the way that he believes they should. In other words, a single bullet could potentially kill us."

She frowned. Every time she thought she had understood everything about this other dimension, a new wrinkle was added. "But that cognitive bullet that hit you didn't kill you. It even disappeared."

"Because it was emerging from the gate into your own reality, where physics are different", Pelagio said, remembering his earlier injury sadly. "It could only exist there long enough to injure me, and then quickly vanish without a trace. The same thing would happen if a Shadow attempted to emerge from the gate. Your friend's cognition is not powerful enough to extend dominion over the human world, thankfully. There is quite enough trouble here already."

"No kidding." The long-faced jailer didn't seem to mind them talking, she noticed. Just so long as they didn't try to escape. If they did, there was no doubt that he would easily shoot them down with the gun on his belt before they could reach their weapons. "Even so, we can't just sit here and wait for the end!"

"No one said anything about that", Mira agreed thoughtfully before peering across into Pelagio's cell. "Wait, I know. Guardian, it's time for you to transform!"

Aiko smiled excitedly at the idea. _Oh, right! I completely forgot he could do that. That'll destroy the back wall and let us out. We can even use the cannons on the Shadows if they try to stop-_

Pelagio smiled too, but it was a regretful one. "I'm afraid that is impossible, Dancer. I am only able to shift into my boat form when I am exposed to the ethereal waters of Faraway Lands. Otherwise, I would have done so when we were ambushed earlier."

Mira slumped at that revelation, leaning back against the cell wall. _"Vervlaks._ I was hoping to see their reaction to that. Oh well."

"'Oh well'?", Aiko asked, her voice tinged with panic. "They're going to kill us if we can't get out of here!"

"Maybe", Mira conceded, still strangely calm. "Or maybe not. I just didn't want to do this, but if we have no other way..."

Oya emerged once more at Mira's call, so tall and lithe that her headdress was scraping the wooden beams that composed the ceiling until she floated down beside her host. The jailer rose again, this time brandishing his weapon as he shouted.

"Hey! You ladies best settle down now, 'fore I speed up yer sentence some!"

But when Mira spoke to him, it sounded worryingly like a Shadow's dual-layered voice. There was the familiar clipped accent of Mira, and then a shimmering lick of a sound that Aiko could only assume was the voice of her Persona, speaking together with her as they danced in synchronicity.

" _But don't you want to see the true me, before we're gone?"_

Pelagio and Aiko both stared, only beginning to perceive something that was clearly much more significant for the jailer, who had suddenly gone slack-jawed and limp. "Uh... I... uh...!"

" _I want to show you. I want to show you the beauty of eternity. Come to me."_

To their collective amazement, the jailer was actually fiddling with his key ring now, trying to find the one that would open Mira's cell. "Marin Karin. Charm magic", Pelagio whispered at last. "A power sometimes wielded by certain types of Shadows... and Personas as well, it seems."

For a moment Aiko grunted. None of her various Personas had that ability. Not even Lilim, who instead possessed the ability to put others to sleep among the rest of her talents. The bars rang out as they slid open, and Mira raised one bare hand to cup the man's chin like a sacred treasure.

" _You... idiot."_

Her next move broke the trance the man had been lulled into, a high kick that sent him flying back into the storage bins. In less than twenty seconds, Mira had grabbed the key ring and unlocked both of the other cells.

"I wasn't expecting that", Aiko admitted awkwardly. "Nice job though."

To her relief, Mira's voice had reverted to normal even though her Persona was still waiting to fight. "I told you, I didn't want to. It makes me feel... unclean. Still, if it gets us out of this dump..."

"We are not done with him yet, I fear", Pelagio pointed out as they grabbed their weapons. He was right- the jailer had finally risen from his position on the floor, frantically grasping at his gun to find it gone.

"I reckon it's time", he growled at the trio, all his good humor gone, "for me to exercise my juris-diction as jailer, and carry out a sentence!"

Before any of them could get within a sword's distance, the jailer _surged_ , melting down into a puddle of black ooze. In the time it took to process that, the puddle blasted back up again, leaving behind a large horse-headed beast that could only be a Shadow. Dead white eyes glowered out at them from a wide-brimmed red dome of a hat, tiny decorations that might have been tails dangling down from it. The rest of the body was shrouded in a cloak that matched the hat, and beneath that was nothing but a desiccated green husk, sharp claws reaching out to threaten them, the left one a wicked-looking pincer.

" _ **Death!"**_ **,** the jailer howled through a monstrous horse's maw.

The trio didn't miss a beat at this grotesque sight, calling up their Personas and readying their weapons. "He'll be tough", Aiko guessed. "So we'll be tougher! Come on, Onkot! _Tarukaja_!"

"Galahad!", Pelagio followed suit, charging forward across the cramped area with his sword and shield even as his Persona's power was invoked. "Shield us from his dark grasp! _Praesi_!"

Mira and Oya took the more direct approach, simply zapping the horse-headed enemy with a crackling bolt of electrical power they had learned was called 'Zio'. The bolt lit up the creature's equine skeleton for a moment, but didn't seem to hinder its own movements much, lashing out at her with a claw that left coal-black trails behind it.

"Get shields set up up on Dancer too!", Aiko commanded, momentarily irritated by Pelagio's always prioritizing her safety over anyone else before refocusing on her target and pointing her cutlass. "Aqua!"

As she had guessed, the first shield had been addressed to her, blocking the enemy's revoltingly fast claw attack before cracking. Far from stymied, the Shadow raised a second claw, whinnying as he invoked his own magical offensive. "Anyone who gets in _his_ way's gotta die! _EIHA_!"

A pillar of dark energy engulfed Guardian, but even as he stumbled over from the magnitude of the hit, his own blue nuclear light flared out to blast the enemy back into a shelf. Aiko prepared to leap across the table to cut into him, but hesitated when she found herself suddenly feeling lighter than before, like she'd suddenly lost 50 pounds and none of the muscle.

"It's my power- _Sukukaja_!", Mira enlightened her. "Hurry up and nail him!"

She did. The enemy's hide felt far thicker than any horse had the right to be- like tearing into a frozen steak with a kitchen knife- but with the enhancements they had prepared, the blade still left visible cuts behind. More used to the sensation now, Aiko didn't flinch when she felt a third magical aura covering her, bolstering her even further.

"Rakukaja", Pelagio provided as he shook off the pain from earlier, gratefully accepting Aiko's healing magic in return. "The barrier that will not bend inevitably breaks, but one that accepts a portion of the pain shall endure longer. Perhaps this shall be of more use than Praesi?"

"Both would be good", she commanded almost cheerfully. Having loyal comrades like this watching her back made fights to the death against Shadows _enjoyable_ in a strange kind of way. _Or maybe I really am crazy._ "But the pain won't end until we take this jerk down! Arise, Lilim! Burn him to ash!"

Her first fused Persona was demon girl in a white leotard that drew a few odd eyes, but it didn't matter when the enemy Shadow's cloak suddenly lit up with ravenous fire. That seemed to have the most effect- the creature released a keening howl of wordless agony even if the burning dissipated shortly instead of spreading like a true flame would have. "Enough dallyin'!", the freak screamed once he could speak again. "Time for a hangin'! _**MUDO**_ **!"**

The black curse energy surged again, this time taking on the discernible shape of a large, misshapen skull for moment before charging directly at her with open jaws. Taken off guard, she could actually see out of the back of it before the jagged spikes that served it as teeth began to close together... and then she was sprawled on the other side of the room, struggling back to her feet as she saw the skull devour the steel-plated form of Pelagio.

When the skull faded, Guardian was left behind. He stood motionless for seconds, his round eyes even wider than normal before they shut tight and he collapsed to the floorboards without a word.

"NO!", the scream flew unbidden from her throat, unable to take her eyes away from the sight. Only the sound of Mira's own pain brought her out of it, turning to see the horse-headed _bastard_ who had done this to Pelagio unleashing his claws on another comrade, this time without Pelagio's barriers to soften the blows.

Fortunately for her, the jailer had also developed a case of tunnel vision. So focused on finishing Dancer off no matter how much she dodged around, he didn't see when Aiko spun around with murder in her eyes, refocusing her Lilim Persona and pointing her sword.

" _BURN!"_

Flames gouted from cracks in the floorboards, not igniting them but blasting into her target with renewed ferocity. She raised a gloved hand and repeated the spell over and over and over, even when it reached the point that each word was making her headache worse by an order of magnitude. She didn't care. All that mattered was that this Shadow died.

No longer able to hear the creature's pitiful whinnying, she marched up to it and thrust the cutlass deep into the husked green chest beneath the red cowl before wrenching it free. Only later would her mind register that Mira had been contributing her speed-boosting magic to her moves.

Regardless, it was enough. Engulfed from the chest up in enchanted flame and bleeding raw darkness from multiple holes left by swords and daggers, the jailer finally keeled over and melted back into a pool of shapeless ooze. A moment later, even that had evaporated like water, leaving only a sound carrying on the breeze.

"Gotta lock folks up, gotta lock everybody up... so that _he_ can be free..."

Only when she was certain nothing else remained of the jailer did Aiko allow the strain of what she'd done to catch up with her nearly driving her to her knees before she could get over to Pelagio and examine his fallen form. "You're okay", she whispered. "You're okay. You have to be okay. _Tell me you're okay._...!"

There was no verbal response. Rather, she felt it in his chest plating when she put her hand over it. A faint pulse. "Alive", she squeaked out a lifetime's worth of relief. "Just unconscious. We''ll have to carry him back to the water."

Mira still looked stunned by what she had seen her friend become just now, but she recovered quickly and nodded. "...Got it. Good thing it's not too far. What if they spot us on the way there?"

"Then zap them, and keep going."

* * *

Throwing Pelagio into the waters of Faraway Lands might have been a risky ploy, but it was all the two of them could manage after carrying his heavy body all the way back to the shore. They shared a moment of mutual apprehension, worry staining their eyes before his ship form popped back up onto the surface, evidently good as new.

Their ride home didn't speak until they were both on board, the voice issuing from every part of the ship a though he was a ghost, and nearly as weak as one.

"That... was rather embarrassing. Another failure, my lady. Please excuse my foolishness."

Aiko gave a disgusted snort. "Not even close. I didn't even know what that skull thing _was_. It would've gotten me if you hadn't pushed me out of the way... Thank you, Guardian."

"Mudo", he said pensively. "A powerful curse skill that drains the target's life force and induces automatic death, or a state near enough to it. Though it is not always effective, I could not risk allowing you to succumb to such a thing."

"Much as I hate to say it", Mira echoed wearily, "he made the right call, Ai-chan. Your power was the only one that was seriously hurting that Shadow. If he could use that skill more than once, we'd be doomed without you."

The mention of the last minute of the battle re-ignited her headache, and she leaned against the mast. "Go, Guardian. We've seen enough for today."

"Are you certain, my lady? We still have yet to find your friend. Only his Shadow."

"I'm certain", she knew. "None of us are in any condition to fight more strong Shadows after _that_... well, maybe Dancer is, but we should do this together."

Mira shook her head. "I was starting to feel it too. It's the smart move, especially because Pela-chan's still partly injured. The waves are still pretty crazy right now. We should still have some time before it's too late to save him."

Pushing away with both hands as they cast off, Aiko leaned back against the main mast, forcing herself to just _breathe_. "That's good, because I get the feeling we're going to need that time. Not just because of Mudo, but those guns too. We can't fight them. Not unless we..."

She wanted to believe she had trailed off due to exhaustion from using her Persona powers so recklessly, but she could also sense Mira's disapproval without looking at her face.

"Unless we get our own? No. We're _not_ buying guns, Saber. Even if we found a store that would sell them to us, getting caught with a gun means expulsion at best. No way. I _hate_ guns."

"Even if it's to save Julian-kun?"

It was a low blow, and one that she regretted it immediately.

"S-sorry. I know that there's limits to what we can do if we want to keep attending school while we do this. But... we owe it to Julian-kun to keep pushing against those limits as much as we can. Imagine... imagine if there was something that we could do to save him- something _really_ hard to do- and we lost him because we said no?"

Far from being offended, Mira seemed merely thoughtful, staring out at the reflective waters all around them. "I know we need to do our best. We're the ones with the best chance- maybe the _only_ chance- of saving him. If we have to go through the gate every day for the next two weeks, then we'll do that. But _no guns_. We won't do Julian-kun any good locked up in juvie hall for possession."

They both sat there quietly for a while, and Aiko felt like some of her strength had returned when Pelagio spoke up again. "Perhaps I might propose an alternative strategy, captain? Now that I have time to properly explain things."

Standing back up, Aiko nodded. "I'm listening."

"The reason that the bullets in that Land are so deadly", Pelagio began slowly, "is because the common human cognition states that one bullet is often enough to kill a person. That shared belief makes the guns there even deadlier than Mudo, since they are faster."

"I know", she agreed patiently. "It's a huge problem for us right now. I mean, I guess watching TV and movies might make people believe that guns aren't as deadly as they really are, but still-"

"However", Pelagio continued. "With this world being what it is, I believe that any object that passes for a gun would demonstrate the same capabilities. Even ones that do not function that way in your reality."

Aiko snapped her gloved fingers. " _Models._ You think that if we bring model guns in here, they'll work the same way as real guns do. And there's a couple of shops in the city that sell models for self defense."

"I believe that to be the case, my lady. Though I cannot be absolutely certain until we test this theory in person."

Mira was more skeptical however, leaning back against the port guard rail. "Okay, but even model guns are pretty expensive these days. Almost as much as real ones. I seem to recall a certain problem we had when we went out to cape Ashizuri to try and hold a victory party..."

"I know", Aiko nodded somberly. "I've been trying to save up the money I earn at Starlight diner, along with the money that we take from the Shadows here... but it's not going to be enough. Not for this."

Then a booming chuckle came to them from everywhere. "Then perhaps the time has come for me to redeem myself for my earlier failures."

Mira blinked. "Huh? You have a way for us to get model guns, Guardian?"

"Something like that", Pelagio offered, suddenly brimming with excitement after two incidents he regarded as 'failures' on his part. "I beg your patience for half an hour's time, captain. That should be long enough for us to get there. If you would kindly adjust my main sail to the west for a bit?"

Though he did not explain further, Aiko swore she could sense his anticipation, as though the entire ship was holding its breath for their arrival at their new destination. The trip was short and quiet, the three of them merely exchanging less important observations about all they had seen on their first visit to Julian's Land.

"Gentaro", she noted after the sail had been set correctly. "Or George, if you like. He was the one, wasn't he? The one who died. His grandpa."

"Yes", Mira nodded grimly as they watched the scattered islands sweep past. "I guess his grandfather must have been very close to him. Perhaps closer than his father was- you saw those wanted posters on the board at the jail, yes?"

"Vaguely", Aiko confessed. "We were kind of busy at the time trying not to die."

"I caught a glimpse when we were fetching back our weapons", Mira explained. "Those posters had pictures of Rosea-kun's father and mother, as well as coach Kurikado and another man I didn't recognize."

"Wanted posters", their captain repeated, glancing back at the pinprick of light that Julian's Land had been reduced to. "They said the Sheriff was hunting them. So, are they like your cognitions of Mattora and the SDC?"

Mira shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, like you said we didn't have time to look closer. I'm no expert on his cognition. Maybe he likes them, maybe he doesn't. All we really know is that Rosea-kun holds his grandfather on a different level than other people in his life. The only way to know for sure is to go back in."

"Back into 'Freedom City' and beyond", Aiko agreed. "Once we're ready, of course. Speaking of... land ho!"

The island Pelagio had set his course towards was far off the beneath path and easily the smallest one they had ever set foot on, merely an oval of dark sand with a small cluster of thin rock spires jutting thirty feet up out of the ground. The impact of landfall shook the deck, but Aiko was proud not to fall over from it as she had last time.

"Here we are. Both of you, kindly head below decks and take the first corridor to your left, then open the door there."

Doing as he said brought them to a double wooden door that Aiko was astounded she hadn't spotted before now- Pelagio was not that big, even in his ship mode. The locker beyond the doors was a cramped one, only having enough room for a simple wooden table and a pair of flat metal spades.

"Very good. If you dig at a spot near the shortest rock spire on the island, you should find it."

"Dig?" Aiko laughed at the idea. "You buried something here, Guardian?"

" _Something_ , Saber", he acknowledged eagerly, transforming back into his armored form and taking a spade into his own talons. "Something which I believe will aid in our current dilemma."

"You're lucky we're not ordinary students", Mirambela remarked cheerfully as they set down at the shore. "They might object. If it's for Rosea-kun, though..."

A brisk thirty minutes of cooperative digging later, Aiko felt her shovel strike something harder than sand or rock. Pulling it up revealed a dirt-laden wooden box of classical make, lines of pricey-looking metal unmarred by years entombed flowing down into a round lock at the front.

But before any of them could make any observations, a sickeningly familiar dark fluid began to seep out of the key-shaped hole of the lock, and with it a low, guttural voice.

"No... no! It's mine! Mine! This is MY treasure! MIIIINE!"

"Shadow", their captain hissed as the ooze began to take form outside of the treasure chest. "Get ready!"

She didn't even wait for the puddle to finish before parting it down the middle with her cutlass. As usual it revealed a shape beneath, a bulky, disheveled shape that was nonetheless recognizable as a man. A tall man with long, dark red hair and glowing eyes, tattered green rags sticking to his form still recognizable as a tunic. A more traditional broadsword clutched in his left arm while the right arm hung at his side as a revolting cluster of maimed flesh and bone.

They also didn't wait for the Shadow to make the first move. Pelagio's opening swing glanced off the creature's own sword, but then Mira's Persona was calling down piercing lightning with her Persona's Zio skill, Aiko choosing her own Persona to strike with as well. "Freeze 'em up, Jack Frost!"

The ice spikes seemed to have a greater effect than Mira's power, piercing the enemy's dull skin in numerous places and doubling him over with pain. "Argh... no way! I am the mighty Lham Dearg! Tremble before me! _Tera_!"

The Shadow's eyes flashed ever so briefly and for a moment Aiko thought the attack had failed, but then loose bits of the island's rock spires came flying up to batter Mira, continuing to pelt her ever as she danced to avoid it until the gray shell of Pelagio's Praesi skill covered her, blocking the rest. The only one who seemed surprised by this development was Lham Dearg himself.

"What? How can you possibly-"

"Begone, abomination. _Frei_ ", Pelagio snarled over his words in a way that suggested he had the same amount of patience over having another unexpected fight after the Jailer as the rest of the team did. When that explosion knocked the undead knight back, Aiko's sword and Mira's daggers were there to finish the job. Unable to focus enough to call upon more rocks, the Shadow perished with nothing but some upset whimpering noises.

"Phew... Didn't want to recruit that one, Saber?", Mira asked once they were sure no others might trouble them.

"Not really", Aiko replied coldly, returning her focus to their prize. "That's not what we're here for right now. Besides, he seemed pretty weak compared to Jack Frost or Lilim. I want only the strongest Personas for when we go back to Julian-kun's Land."

At least the treasure chest didn't give them any further grief. It swung open at her touch, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Beneath a light dressing of cobwebs, the two girls could easily make out the shape of several dusty stacks of yen bills.

"Forty-five... no, closer to fifty thousand yen!", Mira whispered incredulously. She immediately brought the stacks out to count them, not quite fully believing they were real money yet. "I've never seen so much money in one place before! How?"

"That, Saber, is my treasure hoard", Pelagio announced humbly to them. "Remember that I spent many years in this dimension, travelling through it alone since before I can remember. During that time, a great many Shadows took offence to my presence and attempted to slay me, not unlike those loathsome seagulls back in your world. While some of those Shadows were far too strong for me to defeat alone and required me to retreat, many others fell to my blade even if I did not possess Galahad at that time. What you are seeing here is the total accumulation of their ill-gotten funds."

"That's a fortune!", Aiko gasped, just as astonished by their find as Dancer. "But... but we can't just take this from you! This is _your_ money, Guardian!"

"Oh?" Pelagio's voice held a touch of wry amusement in it now. "Is it then? Then perhaps I should travel to the institution in your world called a 'bank', open an account, and invest it for safe keeping. Assuming, of course, that they accept signatures from birds. I suppose I shall have to learn to grip a pen within my beak then."

If anything, her eyes widened further. "And now Guardian is being sarcastic."

"This truly is a day for miracles", Mira agreed, still rifling through the pile.

"It is my contribution to the cause, to my friends", Pelagio clarified more openly with a bow. "Any monetary wealth that I possess is yours to use as you see fit, Saber. I know that you will use it responsibly."

"I will", she agreed automatically. Taking this pile and using it on an all-day shopping spree spanning the whole of Tosashimizu city made for an amusing mental image, but it was one she could never justify in reality. "I'll only use this money to buy things that will help us succeed in our missions here. I promise."

"That goes double for me", Mira said, finally settling down. "Actually, if we're serious about this, we should probably start a pool. Papa sends me some money every month to buy lunches and bus passes with, but there's always a bit left over. You should take it."

Unable to quite process all this good news at once, she put on hand to her temple and shook her head. "With that and my working pay, as well as the money we get off of Shadows, this should work out just fine." Releasing, she put on the first real smile she'd had since Julian has gone missing.

"Alright, then. It's settled. Let's go buy some guns."

" _Model_ guns", Mira corrected her urgently.

* * *

Enemy Profile #3

Kumbhanda

Arcana : Hermit

Strength : Curse (Drain), Aqua

Weakness : Fire, Bless

Abilities : Eiha, Mudo, Draining Claw

Background:

A demon of Buddhist lore, said to drain human life energy with its left hand.  
It has dark skin and stands three meters tall, but sometimes changes shape into a gourd. It is known to have once served Rudra, the god of storms.

* * *

Enemy Profile #4

Lham Dearg

Arcana : Chariot

Strength : Physical, Gun. Earth

Weakness : Ice

Abilities : Tera, Pulinpa

Background:

A warrior ghost from Scottish lore that appears around Glenmore in winter, challenging men to fights when he raises his blood-soaked right hand. It is thought that those who die in war while thirsting for battle become Lham Deargs.

* * *

A/N: It doesn't seem like anyone has a problem with the rather 'video game-y' boss profiles, so I'll continue them. The action's just starting here.


	22. Armed and Ready

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/18 Saturday

After School

Aiko knew what slums looked like. Growing up in Akihabara had taught her the kind of areas that were best avoided unless you wanted to risk disappearing the old fashioned way. This, she had been taught, was especially true for attractive teen girls, qualifications which she felt both she and Mirambela fit into nicely.

She was relieved to see that Tosashimizu's idea of a 'slum' only barely approached Tokyo's most troubled spots. Well-lit, but not in a garish sort of way. No gang signs marred the walls here, and the alleys didn't reek of used opium pipes. While there were a few disheveled vagabonds seated on the pavement and the occasional broken bottle or trash pile, overall she felt much safer here than she might have if asked to walk down a similar street in Shinjuku's districts late at night without any kind of defense.

"Of course it has to be here of all places", Mirambela complained, clutching her friend's hand tightly for security against what she must have seen as the very embodiment of the reason her father didn't like his children going into the city. "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

An unseen voice called down to them then. "In my admittedly limited experience with human society, gun shops are forbidden from claiming a public space on a main street, because the people are concerned that children might-"

"It was a rhetorical question, Pela-chan", Aiko cut him off quickly. Pelagio was the one who had spotted the shop whose fanciful neon gold logo peered down at them now, reading 'Bird of Hermes' in cursive text. The only other alternative was a shop much further away from the bus stop, and in an even more run-down area of the city than this one. It was the relative size of Tosashimizu city that made such areas stand out all the more, she decided. Tokyo had them too and dozens of gun shops located within that vast darkness, but it was so big that you could go your entire life without ever needing to come within sight of them.

Of course, the same had held true for Tosashimizu until the time had arrived that demanded they purchase model guns from a shop to save a friend. _To save Julian. To bring him back from that strange Land that was forged from his dreams._

The store itself contrasted with the gritty exterior, boasting a pair of clean-lined counters running down a long room, both bracketing shelves of well-lit weapons both genuine and obviously fake. There was much more than just firearms on display as well, she noticed. The ceiling lights were both numerous and diverse in color, so that the storefront felt akin to walking through a psychedelic rainbow.

Instead of a bell, an electronic series of tones lifted from some video game announced their arrival. In the space of a breath, an aged man in a fancy blue vest wearing a thin-chained monocle emerged from the darkness of the back room. His round, sallow face looked enthusiastic enough until he saw his customers, running one white gloved hand across the counter as if he felt they had already dirtied it with their presence, though his voice was well-mannered enough to take her aback.

"Ladies, I am afraid that you have taken a wrong turn. I will have to ask you two to leave."

Mira quavered at his words, but Aiko had come expecting to do the talking. "Not if this is the Bird of Hermes", she countered the man, refusing to be pushed out after they had sacrificed their entire day just to get here. "You sell model guns, right? We want to buy some models. Realistic-looking ones, please."

But the wrinkled proprietor seemed to be the only one minding the store, and he eyed her with an expression of pure disdain. "This is not a pretty salon or manicurist, young miss. This is a professional shop for _adults_. These weapons are dangerous to be carrying around, and you two are clearly minors. I doubt you could even afford any of the merchandise here. Go away, before I call your parents."

"How rude", Mira commented, trying to copy her friend's brazen approach, flicking a hand towards a katana as if its presence were an insult to her sensibilities. "Appearances can be deceiving."

"To some", the man growled now. "Not to me. But very well. Prove that you are veterans in my chosen field, and not merely a pair of brainless mall rats who got lost on the way to their next facial appointment." Moving outside of the right counter, he pointed to a weapon- a pistol- displayed on the left. "Do either of you know what that is?"

"A... gun", Aiko said, knowing before she said it that it wasn't the right answer. He wanted the model and make, and any other details they could provide to impress him with their hardcore experience with weapons and armor. Their non-existent experience.

The man made a gloating expression, turning his finger on a strange-looking military helmet with a digital visor. "And that?"

"...A helmet", Mira volunteered miserably. 'A metal helmet."

"Yes. Very good", he joked in mock joviality. "For amateurs, that is. The gun is a Sig-sauer P229, a popular choice for various military organizations all over the world. Extremely modular and flexible. Modified, naturally with recoil suppressing components as well as a night sight. Enough wasting my time. Get out, the both of you."

Mira was already fleeing for the door when Aiko gritted her teeth and decided to deploy their last resort. "Fine. We'll just have to go over to Xtriqation and see if they're not so snobby."

That claim elicited a disgusted grunt from the owner. "I'd advise against going there. Not only would it be highly dangerous for children your age, but their prices alone are criminal extortion, and the owner is a fat corporate fool who probably knows less about quality weaponry than _you_ do. The real professionals know that there is only one place to go in all of Tosashimizu city if you desire a diverse selection of quality weapons for a fair price, and that is THIS store."

 _"Then give us a chance!"_ , Aiko demanded with more intensity than she thought possible for someone her age. She could actually sense Mira's fear without looking back at her. "We have the money. We want something to protect ourselves. Haven't you heard about the disappearances at Koashimizu academy lately?"

"Everyone has heard of those", the man waved her objections away dismissively. "It made the news even back in Tokyo. Two girls mysteriously disappeared from Koashimizu academy without a trace... and now, one boy. Suicides, no doubt."

"Yeah?", Aiko argued back, starting to get legitimately angry now. "What makes you so sure about that?"

"Koashimizu's reputation", the owner sniffed as if the answer was obvious. They had both taken care not to wear their school uniforms for this, but he seemed inconveniently sharp and then some, his monocle eye peering at her as if like Igor, it could read her very thoughts.

"The very school which foreign exchange students were invited to flock to has become a difficult place for them to exist. Teen suicides in that area are at a record high. Now do you understand why I cannot sell to minors, miss?"

That excuse sounded ridiculous to Aiko, but she noticed that Mira wasn't laughing. "You think that we're going to go and shoot... but they're just models!"

"Realistic models", the owner echoed complacently. "But even if your intentions are what you say, the answer is still no. Perhaps Hex will save you if you get into trouble, hm?"

"Maybe Hex will pay _you_ a visit", she said threateningly before remembering where she was and who this man was. He didn't seem like a criminal, but the sort who had been required to deal with criminals in a violent fashion many times. Numerous painful sparring sessions with Mr. Umaeda had taught her never to underestimate the elderly- if she trained with him for the entire year, she would still never even get close to his level of swordsmanship. This cultured-sounding man seemed to be of a similar breed, and the threat blew past him like the harmless breeze of his AC.

"We'd better get going, Ai-chan", Mira advised her once they were outside again, less dejected by their failure than her roommate. "It's not long until it gets dark. No going to Xtriqation, alright?"

"No way", she agreed slowly, making the turns through the alleys towards the bus stop on autopilot. "I only said that to try and get him to sell us stuff. And he's right- Xtriqation is way pricier and way more scummy. Not going there unless we really have no other choice."

"We might not", Mira admitted grimly. "That guy seemed determined not to sell to us. I wonder how many customers he actually has?"

"Adults", Aiko provided simply. It didn't quite sound like a curse. "I guess I kind of understand. He doesn't want to be the one who enabled Tosashimizu's first ever school shooting. If only there was someone who could-"

"Please end that train of thought right now", Mira ordered, strangely adamant. "No adult in their right mind would do that for us. We'd at least have to tell them why we needed them, and I don't think that 'protection' excuse will work any better than it did here."

"No", Aiko agreed regretfully. "But we can't give up. We have to do this. We're the only ones who can.

Mira's reply was cut off by a howl rolling down the alley that took several seconds to register as human produced. Some perverse instinct overrode the wise move to stay away, and the two found themselves following it to a spot near a trash pile where a pair of young men around Bartholomew's apparent age. Aiko didn't recognize either from school, but the signs of injury couldn't be missed. Both were writhing from the pain, muttering curses under their breath.

"No blood", Pelagio commented stoically from above them, falcon eyes staring at the injuries from his lamp post perch. "Merely precision fractures of bones in the arms, chest and legs. Painful, but not fatal."

"I'll call the-" Aiko trailed off with her cell phone raised to eye level, her voice stuck on the final word 'hospital'. _If I do that, they'll ask questions about what we were doing out here so late._

Then she saw Mira's anxious eyes and scoffed, revolted by her own cowardice. _What the hell am I doing? These guys need help. I guess this is what 'bystander syndrome' means. She didn't know their story. Saving them might be just as important a task as saving Julian._

She started dialing.

* * *

5/18 Saturday

Evening

"It was Hex", Mirambela announced, switching off the TV when Aiko entered the room from a tense dinner. "That's what they're saying on the news. Those two guys were delinquents, and Hex showed up and busted them harassing a woman."

"Good for Hex, I suppose."

Mira looked uncertain about that opinion, but she also knew that wasn't what was really bugging her roommate. If anything, seeing another sign of Hex was a reminder of their own responsibility. _Our own extralegal responsibility._

Clamping down on the source of her own discontent was even easier. _Extralegal, like Hex... is what we're doing actually illegal? I mean, there's no law against hurting, threatening, and even killing Shadows... because most humans have no idea that they exist._

Even in the few times they had traveled together into Faraway Lands, Mira had witnessed Aiko do all of the above to Shadows, even going so far as to extort money from them with the stick of further violence. The repeated mantra that these victims were far from human only went so far towards quelling that unease. _She treats Shadows just like I imagine Hex treats human criminals. Never showing mercy unless they offer to join her, becoming a new mask for her. And that ruthlessness... that is what scares me about her._

"Can't sleep", Aiko announced almost matter-of-factly from her spot on the bed, arms folded behind her head. "Not until I figure out what we're going to do about this."

Mira leaned back, inwardly amazed that sheer exhaustion wasn't helping them escape to the land of nod for a few hours at least. The day hadn't been much better, with an assembly about the latest disappearance nearly causing them to miss the bus completely and a barrage of new homework assignments and topics in every class.

"Julian's mom", Aiko shot the idea out in desperation. "She'd do anything to get him back. Even help us buy model guns. If we tell her-"

"If we told her, she would call the police", Mira cut in rapidly. "Look at it from her perspective. For all she knows, we might actually be out to get him. And even you have to admit, the only way to connect the model guns with rescuing him sounds like an anime plot."

"Huh. I didn't know you watched anime."

"Occasionally", Mira admitted with a shy chuckle. "Actually, that was one of the reasons originally I chose to study aboard here. Some of your artists are truly gifted. I never saw anything like that back home."

A brief smile lit up her friend's face, pushing the topic at hand to the background for a few lovely seconds before it came back. "Hey. If we save Julian, I'll take you both to an animation studio. I think he would like that kind of stuff, knowing what we know about him now."

"What we know about him", Mira acknowledged more reservedly. Just like her own Land, Julian's western-themed dream world had been a detailed work to put any anime artist to shame. Artists tried to capture life or subconscious images in pictures, but the Lands _were_ the subconscious, in living color.

Of course, behind both of these living works of art had been a sinister force. Mirambela had watched many shows since arriving in Japan two years ago, both for her own enjoyment and to familiarize herself with local popular culture. But none of the villains she'd seen in those shows even came close to how scared she'd been around Julian's Shadow. Her own Shadow had been just as nasty and painful for her to behold once the truth had been revealed to her.

Mira frowned up at the blank ceiling. "Ai-chan... were you ever scared of my Shadow?"

She winced right after, believing it to be a stupid question, but calmed when she sensed Aiko genuinely thinking about the answer. "...Yes. Yes, I was. The worst was when I first saw her, before I knew exactly what was going on. She had your face. Your voice. But..."

"Yeah", Mira echoed, neither needing or wanting further elaboration. Unlike Julian's black-hatted Shadow, who could easily pass for a human if he were to hide his reverberating voice and searing golden eyes, her own Shadow had been an eight-foot pillar of gleaming technology, all armor plating and wiring and lights that suggested a being that was far more metal than flesh. Seeing a familiar face atop that monstrosity had to have been terrifying, especially when the Shadow had painfully ripped her own flesh face off, revealing a revolting automaton beneath it.

All that had been bad enough without her also knowing that everything that Shadow had said was something she'd thought privately in her weaker moments. _And I owe it to her not to hide my opinions, my true thoughts, from her now._

"Maybe... maybe this is too much for us."

To her immense relief, Aiko didn't immediately sit up from her bed and denounce her. Of course not. She wasn't that type of person, and for a moment Mira felt embarrassed at her own crippling fear of that reaction. What she did do was close her eyes and roll to one side, releasing the air of her sigh into the wall.

"...Maybe."

"I never knew Rosea-kun much", Mira followed up hastily. "I saw him in class when we were both in our first year, but he never really said much to me. Then he moved on to his second year, and I... I didn't."

 _Stop making this all about you, idiot._

Quickly reconsidering her approach, she leaned down to study Aiko's prone form. "What I'm trying to say is... I really do want to save him. You saved me from my problems. Whatever he's got going on in his head right now? Can't be worse than my stupidity."

"It doesn't matter", Aiko whispered sadly. "If Kujou was lost in there... I think I'd still try to pull her out, no matter how much I hate her. We don't judge people that way."

"Of course", Mira acknowledged. "I'm just saying that Julian's Land is so much _bigger_ , so much more dangerous than mine was... maybe we can't do it after all."

"We have Personas on our side", Aiko protested, still unable to face away from the wall and see the fear in her friend's eyes. "I'm pretty sure they reason we got them is to save people from that place."

"But they're _not enough_ ", Mira emphasized, fighting back tears now. "If we were stronger, if we had more _time_ , maybe we could... but how can we go back there, knowing that we won't win? If we lose, we die. And then Rosea-kun dies, the same as if we did nothing."

The image of Julian seemed to manifest itself in front of her blurred eyes as she spoke, and she understood who she was really saying this to. "One death, or four deaths... It's not an easy decision, but... you saw what it was like. _We can't win_. The Shadows are just too strong for us." Turning back, she rolled into the covers, as if they were protection against Julian's accusing gaze.

"I'm so scared of them, Ai-chan. I don't want to die. Not when I finally found someone... when I'm finally starting to enjoy school again."

Their leader remained silent for a long time. Just when Mira thought she had gone to sleep, the whispered words reached her. "Thank you for being so honest, Mira-chan. I totally understand it. I'll... think about it."

Against all expectations, Julian did not haunt her dreams that night.

She had no dreams at all.

* * *

5/19 Sunday

Afternoon

 _ _KS: still no sign of Rosea?__

 _ _AT: none. I talked to his parents.__

 _ _AT: I'm worried__

 _ _RH: prolly sleeping in the mall. The night watchman there is kind of lazy__

 _ _AT: don't think so__

 _ _KR: ill ask the soccer team if they saw him did you try texting him__

 _ _AT: couple times. no reply__

 _ _RH: damn__

 _ _KS: will we still have fencing tomorrow? :'(__

 _ _AT: I think so. besides if we skip Umaeda-sensei will prolly just shut it down. don't want to disappoint him__

 _ _KR: cu there tsuruga__

 _ _RH: try not to let this get you down too much. he's prolly doing something stupid cos he didn't get what he wanted. I was like that once__

 _ _KS: u ran away from home? =:O__

 _ _RH: kinda. It's private__

 _ _KS: o__

 _ _RH: how are his parents taking it?__

 _ _AT: not well. They're talking about suing the school.__

 _ _RH: adult's response to damn near everything -_-+__

 _ _RH: u think it's related to Furusato?__

 _ _KS: tsuruga-chan?__

 _ _RH: k enough with the damn honoriffics in texting pls__

 _ _AT: no, I don't. But I'll keep looking for him. Promise__

Pelagio was willing to play along with Aiko on the next day, pretending that they were getting together to fulfill _his_ wishes alone, and not so that she could talk to him about last night's conversation.

Besides, a wide-open plot of well-kept grass such as the Tosashimizu sports park felt like just the thing she needed to clear her head of the worries that had made it difficult to perform well at her job, though thankfully the work hadn't been as demanding as her boss' threats had first indicated. Some people above her own age were playing baseball, and some of the boy's faces inevitably reminded her of the topic at hand until she could hold it in no longer as they watched from the bleachers framed by a flat river bend.

"So", the falcon considered from his perch further up, not too far and not too near her or any other spectators. "Miss Sorano fears that continuing this quest will end in our deaths if we are not able to acquire the model guns we sought."

Subtly, so not to alarm anyone who might take issue to seeing a girl talking to herself, Aiko nodded. "You almost died. I was so worried that we might lose you. Now that stuffed-up weapons shop owner won't even sell us anything because we're 'too young'."

Deciding not to comment on that, Pelagio turned back to the ball game to spot the first home run. The teams seemed imbalanced to her, but no one cared. They just wanted to play. "I remain your sworn protector, my lady. Whatever your decision in this matter, I will remain by your side and aid you in your goals."

No one, least of all her, could deny that he had done exactly that. The cache of money that they had uncovered remained locked away in their dorm room, waiting to be used. She'd seen the prices at the Bird of Hermes and while they were steep, they certainly had enough funding to buy more than one model gun, with enough left over to get a helmet or two as well. The only obstacle left was the owner, and being so close yet so far was frustrating her beyond belief.

"And... if I ordered you to tell me which option you preferred?"

Pelagio seemed mildly offended by the idea, but not so much as to take off. "In my humble opinion? We should strive to finish what we have already started. Unfinished business is always so... so _untidy_."

She nodded back, having expected nothing else.

"Well, Mira-chan thinks that we should quit before any more of us get hurt. That we're too young to be dealing with something like this, risking our lives constantly." Locking gazes with the falcon's she regarded him carefully. "And after what nearly happened to you, I almost want to agree with her."

Pelagio's own raptor eyes remained difficult to read as ever, but his tone was unmistakable. "Forgive me, but from what I have observed, miss Mirambela seems to be unsuited as an accomplice for your chosen task. She is weak."

Aiko stood, ignoring the game to stomp over closer to Pelagio, the anger she'd felt when he'd lacerated captain Byzael coming back more easily than expected. "Mira-chan is many things, but she is _not_ weak. Watch your tongue... uh, or your beak. Birds have tongues, right?"

Pelagio opened his beak up to prove the affirmative. "I understand that we come from very different worlds, of course. I merely state that she may not be suitable for mine. I have oft-noticed her reluctance to fight as we do, to strike at Shadows with the intent to kill except when there is no other option. When I fell against that jailer Shadow, you were the one who became angry and tore that beast asunder with your power. As you have already seen, my lady, Personas are directly linked to emotion."

"Kind of hard not to notice that", she said more quietly. She wasn't proud of that moment, when she'd lost all control and assaulted the enemy with wave after wave of magical fire until only ashes remained. It felt wrong. Like an outburst of temper in class that made everyone else stop and stare, which so far she'd avoided doing no matter how much Mattora annoyed her.

"Yet, all that she did was cower before that enemy", Pelagio reasoned. "She supported us with her spells, but even then, she lacked the courage to commit to a direct assault with the daggers she had been given by her Persona for that purpose."

Turning back to the game to take her mind off it and failing, Aiko sighed. "Maybe Ishinagi-sensei is right about me. Maybe I really _do_ have anger issues."

Pelagio scoffed at the idea though. "Hardly. Do you truly believe that we would have been given that emotion if its only purpose was for us to suppress it? Much like those daggers, anger has its uses. It has aided me in many a battle."

And that, she reasoned, was the problem. Pelagio had spent his entire life up to this point in Faraway Lands, a nightmare world of 'eat or be eaten'. He was used to fighting Shadows alone, and only looking after himself. While his loyalty to her was unquestionable, he wouldn't hesitate to ditch any other ally that he felt wasn't pulling their weight.

He seemed to be thinking something similar as well when she turned back to him. "I have watched you humans for weeks now. In this world, you use games and competitions such as this 'baseball' to channel your aggression. You live in a world where it is considered bad to express your anger naturally. Where such expressions are even punished harshly."

Thinking back to the two injured thugs, she could only nod. "That's the law. You can't just let people get violent with each other whenever they want."

Pelagio didn't sound dismissive, merely curious. "Is that the definition of human 'harmony'? That is another term I have heard come up. Violent humans, or humans who do not share the opinions of the majority, threaten the 'harmony'."

"Sort of", she admitted uncomfortably. 'Harmony' was a term more used by JCAP's expert speechwriters than anyone else these days. _To be a successful country, its citizens must be in perfect harmony, united in the same goal. Outsiders and outside ideas disrupt that harmony, and weaken the country. Masayoshi Shido's dream sought to bring harmony to the country, and make it truly great._

She'd heard that kind of speech enough to remember, even while trying to avoid having to listen to it too often.

 _Probably because I count as being one of the ones who 'disrupts the harmony', even if I could potentially be full Japanese._ It wasn't her nationality that was disruptive, but the things she did at school.

 _Wouldn't have it any other way,_ she decided easily. _If doing what I've done goes against the harmony that Mr. Shido strove for, then too bad. I'll apologize to all the people who feel like I'm breaking their precious unity._

"It is our own harmony that I am now concerned for, my lady", Pelagio carried on. "While a crew of three is preferable to a crew of two, your friend's lack of aggression may also lead to mistakes in battle. One of those mistakes could be our death."

"Which is all the more reason why I seriously considered her idea", Aiko contended, feeling faint with the realization of the edge they were tipping on now. The edge of surrender. "We can try telling the adults about it. Maybe one of them will listen, and take action to save Rosea-kun in time."

"Perhaps", Pelagio admitted grudgingly. "However, I consider such a result unlikely, considering how they have reacted previously. And... please consider that it could potentially put you in danger as well."

Her face went pale, feeling like they'd flown over the metaphorical edge already, now that they were actually talking about it. "Huh? How come?"

Wings folded, he turned to the clouds. "If you were to give the police, or any adult, a reference about where Mr. Rosea has gone off to, that would give them cause to view you as accomplices. They would have reason to question you more harshly, demanding the truth from you while their own minds refuse to grasp what the truth really is. Thus, they would continue to believe that you both are lying to cover something up, and possibly involved in whatever has happened to the boy. It could go very badly for you, my lady... and for miss Sorano."

That mental picture rocked her and she nearly fell from her seat. The police had questioned Mirambela already about her own disappearance. A scenario like the one Pelagio had described would likely go worse for Mira than it would for her, due to her role in the previous incident. While she had been completely honest in her earlier words about watching all the TV news specials about police corruption being routed out after the surrender of Masayoshi Shido, her statement towards the cops who had questioned her at school about Noel was also genuine.

 _No. Can't trust them with this. Can't let them hurt Mira-chan._

Watching as one of the younger players struck out, she carefully nodded back to him. "Thanks. I didn't imagine it might end up that way, but you're probably right. If we say something, that makes us look suspicious. We might even end up being the ones held accountable for the disappearances."

The white falcon did not preen, continuing to watch the game play out. "Hmph. I still have a lot to learn about you humans, but I have also spent quite some time watching the behavior of those entrusted with protecting the innocent from criminals. While I have seen admirable behavior in many of them, I have also seen others who do not share that same devotion to their duty. Furthermore..."

The way he'd suddenly cut off only worried her more. "Pelagio? What's wrong?"

But his stare had returned to the clouds. "It is... nothing, my lady. Nothing you should concern yourself with during the current crisis. Just know that whatever course you should decide is best, I shall stand with you always."

"Same here", she promised. "And thanks for the honesty. I never thought about it that way before."

 _Now, if only that made making this decision any easier._

But it was still her decision to make, she knew now. Mira and Pelagio had both chosen her to lead, to be their captain. That meant they both felt the safest, the most confident with her making the decisions for the team.

 _If only_ I _felt the same way..._

* * *

5/19 Sunday

Evening

She still hadn't made a decision by the time she returned to the dorm. The game had provided some welcome distraction, especially when one player had left and the call had gone out for a substitute. She had been only too happy to accept the request; even if she wasn't very good, it kept her mind off the decision.

The walk back held no such luxuries. She'd deliberately chosen to take the route going along the beach, its cooling breeze full of memories and feelings. Previous decisions made through fear of the consequences.

 _No one will know. No one will know, except us. And that's the only ones who really matter._

Maybe it wouldn't turn out as badly as she envisioned. Maybe the guilt wouldn't hang over them whenever they got together, a lowercase shadow drawn across their interactions, plaguing their dreams forevermore.

Or maybe she was leading them all to their deaths.

She would have given a great deal for Byzael's ship to be there waiting for her, so she could ask the captain his advice on the situation. There was one adult that she didn't mind confessing her deepest secrets to, knowing that he would keep them safe. Instead, she had to be content with only her memory of his words.

 _The captain is responsible for the livelihood of the entire crew, not merely himself. If the risk is too great, a new course should be set across safer waters._

 _But I have no idea what these safer waters could be. Either path leads to death. Captain... please help me._

The clash between the two courses had manifested into a headache by the time she was done dinner. Stepping through the door to their room, she knew that Mira deserved a decisive answer tonight... even if she herself wouldn't know what the final answer would be until the final moment she uttered it.

 _Xtriquation. We can try going there. Sure it'll be risky, but it doesn't guarantee anyone's death. We'll be careful. Pelagio can watch over and make sure no one gets the drop on-_

The desperate theory stopped then, as she saw that Mira wasn't alone. There was another figure seated on her bed, adult-size if only just, dark brown hair falling down a police uniform.

As they turned to their new arrival, she saw it was detective Nijima.

"Mira-chan", she whispered in the stuffy room, suddenly feeling her feet fall away and her skin turn to ice. "Tell me you didn't..."

The young detective regarded her carefully, as if seeing her for the first time. "So this is the one. The one who saved you, correct?"

 _She did. She told the police. Shit... now what?_

But the officer seemed to have sensed her fear, and gave her best comforting smile to try and alleviate it. "You can close the door, miss Tsuruga. I promise that whatever secrets are shared tonight will remain with the three of us."

Confusion compounded fear and surrender, and she could only obey the direction until feeling came back into her hands and feet. _So it's over. I don't have to make the decision. Almost a relief, really._

Scratch the almost. Whatever happened now, it was out of her control.

"You're Saber, correct?", Nijima asked cautiously. "We were just talking about how you used your Persona to save her life."

Not sure what to say, she turned to Mira, who nodded back. "It's okay, Ai-chan. She said she'll keep it a secret. I believe her."

"We don't have a choice now", Aiko replied, too tired to reprimand her. "We have to believe her. If she's lying, well... I won't blame you."

"This was my decision", Nijima clarified sternly. "I got the records of her questioning, but no one else in the department believed it. Why would they? None of them have ever seen a Persona before, or a Shadow."

Aiko stared back, aghast. "Huh? Are you saying that you have?"

Nijima chuckled. It wasn't the bad kind, but so courteous that it was comforting. Maybe this was what a real mother did for their children, trivializing their foolish worries with a simple sound of amusement until they understood what was really important.

Regardless of if it was, Aiko figured that detective Nijima would make an excellent mom if she ever chose.

"My name is Makoto Nijima", the older woman welcomed her kindly. "But there was a brief time of my life when my name was 'Queen'. That time... it changed me forever. It made me who I am today. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you may also address me that way."

"That's fine", Aiko offered, still fighting the instinct to run and hide from all this. If Nijima was going to arrest them, she wished she would just get it over with already.

Nijima shrugged. "Whatever you'd prefer, Saber. Dancer has been telling me about your current dilemma, and how you need some model guns to survive the obstacles before you. Otherwise, Julian Rosea will die. Am I correct so far?"

She nodded, dumbstruck.

"She gave me the impression that you were out of luck. That you could see no other choice but to give up." Chuckling again, Nijima leaned back on the bed, eyes closed. "I can't even count the number of times where it seemed to be that way for us. Where it seemed like there was no way left for us to complete our objective, and all we could do was wait for tragedy to strike. Looking back, I count ourselves blessed for the number of lucky breaks that we received. Perhaps it truly was fate... or maybe justice?"

"Please", Aiko whispered pleadingly. "Enough with the dramatics. I don't think my heart can take it much longer. Who exactly are you, again?"

Nijima blinked in mock confusion. "Didn't I tell you? I'm detective Nijima, on loan from the Tokyo police department to investigate the sudden rash of disappearances that has plagued Koashimizu academy. I'm also Queen. A member... of the Phantom Thieves."

* * *

5/19 Sunday

Evening

At some point during their talks, Aiko's skin thawed from its ice. Maybe it was when the woman before her revealed herself as a Persona user. Or maybe when she revealed herself as one of the legendary Phantom Thieves who had become such a phenomenon in Tokyo six years ago that Phantom Thief merchandise was now a collector's item.

Maybe it was just the way Nijima acted, the way she talked. There was a confidence in this adult that some of her teachers lacked, a strength of purpose that she could only remember sensing in captain Byzael before. Regardless, there was no choice left now but to trust in Nijima, and listen to her story.

"Our Personas allowed us to penetrate the deepest parts of criminals' Palaces", she was explaining to her two rapt listeners. "By stealing their Treasures, we could cause them to have a change of heart, and repent their crimes. The calling cards that so inflamed the media were actually a necessary step to cause the Treasure to materialize."

She nodded back, finally starting to comprehend. "You were all the news networks talked about for half a year. Even when people thought you had murdered president Okumura at that press conference."

Nijima's sharp face fell, wondering if yong Aiko had personally seen that horrifying sight like so many others. "Yes. That was perhaps our darkest time... but even then, we were eventually able to pull through and reveal the truth of that murder. It was caused by Masayoshi Shido, with the intent to frame the Phantom Thieves."

Mira's eyes widened, standing up off the bed. "Was Mr. Shido a Persona-user then?"

Nijima's laugh was different this time, far more of a mockery... and a fair bit of sadness. "No. As usual, he acted through his subordinates. He only ever had a single Persona-user under his command, but a very skilled and ruthless one. Even when we finally caught up to him, it took all eight of us working as a team to win."

"He must have been very powerful", Mira observed, a bit disturbed about the very existence of such a dangerous enemy.

"He was. But he's gone now, don't worry." Folding her arms, Nijima regarded Aiko anew. "Enough about us then. I don't yet have the full picture of why this is happening again, and in a completely different way from before. We Phantom Thieves destroyed the cause of the Metaverse as our final act, which we believed would be the end of Shadows as well. Clearly, this isn't the case."

The rest was fairly straightforward. Nijima's assuring presence made confessing all the secrets that Aiko had kept locked up for over a month easier than she would have believed, and once she started, it was like a flood.

"A sea", the detective considered thoughtfully once everything was out in the open. "An endless sea of stars that contains the worlds of people's dreams... or at least, where they subconsciously wished to live. Fascinating. Mementos took the form of an underground subway tunnel, but this sounds like something else entirely. I'd like to meet this Pelagio you spoke of. He grew up in Faraway Lands, so he might have more information."

"We can talk to him tomorrow morning", Aiko offered, knowing that she would need to be there to referee such a meeting. If anything, Pelagio was more wary about sharing their secrets than _she_ was.

Nijima shook her head. "My apologies, but I can't. I still have work to do tomorrow."

Aiko raised a brow politely. "More important than this?"

"Actually, yes", Nijima explained. "Comparing notes on the other world can wait... but saving Mr. Rosea can't. I will get you the model weapons that you need. I guarantee it."

She stared back, not daring to believe what she was hearing. "Seriously? You mean it?"

Standing, Nijima regarded her more seriously. "I am an officer of the law. If I ask to inspect a shop's merchandise for clues on a case I'm working, then it will be permitted. Trust me, it won't be the first time I've had to bluff someone."

"That...", she felt a relieved smile tugging at the corner of her mouth now. At last, a moment where it looked like everything would be alright after all. Feeling the weight of those problems slide away, she bowed. "That would be incredibly helpful, Miss Nijima. Thank you! Thank you so much!"

The detective didn't share her smile however. She stared out the window into the night sky. "If something similar to the Metaverse is preying on the despair of human hearts, I can't say no when other Persona users have appeared to take up our torch. Anything that I can do to aid you, I shall. Besides... I owe you."

"What? What do you mean?"

Turning back, Nijima addressed Mira directly, looking more aggrieved than either girl had ever seen her before, even bowing. "I'm sorry, Miss Sorano. I'm sorry for everything that you've been through. The Phantom Thieves were supposed to reform society. We even changed the heart of Masayoshi Shido, the man who, I believe, was seeking to turn Japan into his own personal empire. We discredited Shido, along with many of his top supporters, but... the ideas that he promoted in order to gain his fame are still very much alive and with us today. If anything, they have become even stronger."

"She's talking about JCAP", Aiko provided when Mira looked too stunned to answer. "They publicly condemned Mr. Shido's crimes, but claim that his dream for a rich, perfectly harmonious country is still worth fighting for."

Nijima grunted angrily. "Their exact wording was, 'he went too far in pursuit of his dream'. Yes. I've seen the rallies. They just don't understand that they were being duped the whole time. I myself saw Shido's dream- his Palace- and it was a dream that no one ever wished for except for him and those closest to him. Shido cared for no one."

She shivered, and Mira stepped off the bed to look into her more closely, sensing her sorrow and frustration. "Please, don't blame yourself officer Nijima. You've done nothing wrong. The Phantom Thieves did their job. They stopped lots of awful criminals, and if what you say is true, you stopped an evil man from gaining power over the entire country. You can't be expected to change people's minds, or their beliefs."

"I appreciate that, Sorano", Nijima accepted in a discipline that seemed to natural to be the result of police training. "But... isn't that exactly what my friends and I did as the Phantom Thieves? We acted to change people's hearts. However, many of the people who are now prominent leaders of JCAP- Murama Gouki, Hanae Oda, Daisuke Kujou, Yuji Oeda... none of those people were part of Shido's original criminal conspiracy. No, they merely believed in his message, and joined his support base of their own free will without any evil intent or desire for power." Putting a hand to her head, she closed her eyes as if reflecting back to a moment long ago.

"Even if the Phantom Thieves could still do something about that, I honestly can't say if we should. That might cross the line. We _can't_ force people. Not if they don't have a Palace. We always made sure that our team was unanimous before we made the decision to take down a target."

"That's a good idea", Aiko affirmed respectfully. "The truth is, we were just discussing whether we should give up on our objective. I didn't want to do it unless everyone on the team agreed. You just stopped us from giving up completely, Nijima-san. For that, you have our gratitude."

Nijima smiled back at her, heading to the door. "Don't thank me yet. What I'm doing for you is the easy part. You kids are the ones who are going to have to fight Shadows and save your friend, as much as I wish it wasn't needed."

"Huh? What about you?", Mira asked imploringly. "You have a Persona, right Nijima-san? Can't you come along with us?"

"Not tomorrow", she explained apologetically. "I'll already be putting off work to get you the models in time for the afternoon. If I do that too much, my partner, Iaji, will get suspicious. If he sees me working with you..."

"Got it", Aiko understood, feeling her resolve return to her, bracing a tired body. "We can handle it, Nijima-san. All we needed was a chance. We won't waste it. I promise."

Nijima smiled genuinely this time, changing her focus back to the team's leader. "I know you won't. I see it in your eyes, miss Tsuruga. That absolute determination to help a friend in need... You look a bit like him when you're all confident like that, you know?"

She raised an eyebrow, not sure what the detective meant. "I look like who?"

"You look like Joker."

* * *

A/N: Apologies for the delay. Flood damage isn't fun, and that's all I will bother saying about that. I also felt the need to rewrite this one along with a few others to match certain plot ideas I've decided to change.

ANYWAYS, I'm glad to finally get a meeting scene between former and current Persona-users.

I am aware that Makoto intended to become a police commissioner rather than a cop, but it stands to reason that some field experience is needed before that can happen, even with her grades. Even her sister was working a lower-level position, trying ineffectively to climb up the ranks no matter how biased her bosses were. While she is of course always useful ally to have, don't expect her or the other Phantom Thieves to be able to solve all the Voyagers' problems.

I normally use Persona OST songs for chapter titles, but for this one I decided to use a song from RWBY more fitting to the subject that I also enjoy.


	23. Blood of Villain

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/20 Monday

After School

The dusty town portion of Julian's Land which bore the name 'Freedom City' looked the same as it had on their first visit to it. It only felt different to Saber, to Aiko, knowing that stepping back into the wide sunny concourse framed by wooden shacks and stables was returning to a place where their enemy, Julian's Shadow and the Shadows that served him, held all the cards.

 _And speaking of cards..._

Before any cognitions could stop and point at them (though they did get a friendly welcome wave from old man George), she was leading the team into one of several lively saloons lining the main street. Aside from the bank and the rail station, they seemed to be the most popular places for Freedom City's people to gather.

Or at least its adult male cognitions. Sure enough, several of the round wooden tables in there were fully engaged in various types of ante-focused card games, while the rest of them were either actively talking, drinking, or both. The plinky piano melody that had been a distant lure from the outside grew into full volume, its source lying across the way from the counter.

"Saber...", Mira's worried voice came from behind her almost at the exact time she had predicted, grabbing her sleeve to stop them moving further into the crowd. Naturally, she would have at least one concern about such a risky move.

"Yes, Dancer?"

"Um... over there?"

However, following the place she was pointing to led to a shock even she hadn't seen coming and stopped her in her tracks. Mirambela's finger was pointed at the antique piano. Or rather, at the person stationed there on a flat wooden seat, playing the song that filled the room and beyond.

There was a young woman in an elegant black satin dress, her slender fingers working the keys like a master, only the instrument's apparent age marring the simple jaunty tune she played. Only when she stopped her song and took a short break, leaning herself forlornly against the instrument did Aiko truly understand.

It was her own face staring back at her.

A bit older-looking perhaps, wearing the kind of dress she'd never dared try and bearing all the signs of her new 'environment', but the light gray hair and round green eyes were unmistakable.

"She's a cognition", Pelagio hissed in her ear behind her, justly concerned that their leader would freak out over this new discovery. "Just a cognition. Merely a replication of how Mr. Rosea views Saber through the...erm... the filter of his dreams."

"Y-yeah", she muttered blankly, deliberately forcing her eyes as far away from the piano player as possible. "She's just a cognition. Just an illusion, right? Right?"

All the same, the group gave her a bide berth until they got to the bar. While Aiko ordered some cheap drinks for appearances' sake, no one on their team was thirsty enough to try a sip, so instead they got to sit back on the creaky wooden stools and watch the crowd play, inwardly impressed that everything they were witnessing was all a product of one boy's subconscious mind.

"Not that I'm questioning it, Saber", Mira's concern resumed next to her after several minutes. "But is there a __reason__ we're doing this?"

"Of course there is, Dancer", she tried not to sound offended as they studied the various card games hand by hand, wager by wager, keeping their eyes resolutely away from the piano player. No one had been accused of cheating yet, but it felt like that might happen at any moment with this atmosphere, and then there would be a fight. "We're watching the games here."

"Oh", Mira noted blankly, processing what she'd said. "And, uh... is there a _reason_ that we're watching cognitions play poker instead of going off to save Rosea-kun like we should?"

There was a long hesitation after, smothered under the bustle of the other saloon denizens until Aiko pointed to something that had been put down on one of the tables. A small patch of dark leather with a colorless metal star buckled to it, the word 'Freedom' engraved in the bottom.

" _There_ ", she announced. "At that table, with the beard. One of the deputies. He's a Shadow in disguise, not a cognition. Get ready to fight." Rising up from her seat, she stopped to glance around. "Wait a second. Does this place have a... yes it does. Follow me."

No one bothered them as the trio made their way up to the second floor, which was really just an extended portion of raised floor surrounded by a railing and joined by the staircase, with one wall holding a row of doors leading into small, vacant bedrooms. No one else saw Aiko slowly drawing out and raising the new weapon that officer Nijima had acquired for them, a dark, smooth-handled flintlock pistol with a busted firing mechanism that would never work anywhere outside of Faraway Lands. Exactly as desired, and one that fit into her white glove like it was made that way, feeling sleek and polished.

Mira's weapon was more modern, but no less unusual. It was a small metal piece with a square, angular handle and no barrel. Instead, it had an air pressure-based launching system for firing thin tranquilizer darts instead of bullets, a clip of four weaker shots instead of just one powerful one. Even here in a Land of human cognition, her distaste of actual guns shone through with her choice of weapon. "I suppose if I ever really meant business", she murmured softly to herself, "I could just throw my __simi__ daggers."

"Aim", Aiko ordered her, pointing her weapon and praying that she wouldn't mess this up somehow. "Pela-chan, watch out for other people who don't just scream and run when this starts; those ones are probably Shadows too."

The bushy-bearded man who held a metal star denoting him as a deputy in Freedom city was just celebrating having won the majority of his friends' money with a full house when Aiko squeezed the aging trigger and a bullet came crashing into his balding head, straight through the hat's brim. An impossibly loud **bang** ran through her arm bones and into her head, only to be quickly replaced by the sounds of utter pandemonium.

They all fled, more terrified by the shot than the way the supposedly 'dead' man hadn't simply fallen over onto the floor, but instead dissolved into a familiar dark puddle. Only two other there- the deputies -didn't run. They drew their revolvers, searching around for the source of the shot until a neon blue explosion from Pelagio's Galahad Persona blasted one off their feet.

That caused the three Shadows clad in human skin to abandon all pretense. Two more black puddles formed, and from them three angry monsters violently emerged. Two of them appeared as eight foot tall humanoid ghouls with the same revoltingly desiccated green skin as the jailer Shadow from earlier, blood red mouths extending past their chins all the way down to their waists, the entire opening framed by vicious teeth the size of a human arm. The third also bore a similarity to the jailer, taking on the form of a pink-skinned bipedal horse wearing Roman-influenced bronze armor.

None of the Shadows bothered talking, the two big-mouthed ghouls merely howling incoherent rage. They knew they were under attack, even if they couldn't yet place where it was coming from. Not until Aiko's Persona materialized above the chandelier, her gesture dropping a gushing torrent of water down on not one, but all three of the Shadows.

" _ _Malaqua!__ ", Aiko announced the skill with a smirk. "Go for it, Dancer!"

Their third Persona-user followed suit, Oya's lightning blasting down to crackle tiny bolts in the water that already covered them. "Go! Shock them, Oya! __Mazio!__ _"_

The synthesis of the water and electricity seemed to accomplish what they had hoped and planned for, with one minor exception- the pink horse had been bowled over onto the floor by the water, but the electricity merely ground into his dark hooves, leaving no sign of injury.

"Hmph. Immune to electricity, are we?", Pelagio remarked reservedly. "Then he shall fall at my hand!"

Without another word, he plummeted from the railing to strike the Shadow directly, the momentum of the practiced fall merely adding to the strength of his downward swing. Saber and Dancer followed after, though not as a form of attack, but evasion; they had spotted the two ghouls releasing some kind of acrid yellow fog from their massive mouths, a cloud that spread itself upwards past the chandeliers until it had engulfed the entire second floor.

"Some kind of poison, probably", Mira noted. "Again?"

"Oh yeah!", Aiko fought to keep herself from smiling as they repeated their earlier elemental combination on the two Shadows. Normally they would have been more careful, using their various skills to increase hitting power, defense, or speed. She had decided from the start to try a more immediate approach with this bunch, an all-out offensive that gave the enemy no time to strike back with whatever powers they might have had, partly out of the fear that they might possess a skill as dangerous as Mudo, or worse.

The pink horse Shadow didn't have Mudo, but he _was_ _strong_. Strong enough to throw Pelagio across the building and into the wall behind the bar, shattering numerous liquor bottles and glasses. Pelagio rose up from the wreckage with a violent mood about him not unlike the Shadows had held moments before the attack started, and raised his own blade with his Persona following suit.

"Demolish them, Galahad! __Mafrei!__ "

Three pocket-sized explosions rocked their foes, and apparently that combined with the previous injuries was too much even for the hardy ghouls, both disintegrating and leaving only the large horse creature behind. It began gathering the energy for its own spell, a blast of lightning like the kind Mira used, only for her to step in front of him and soak up the attack without a single noise of complaint.

"Just a pinprick", she surprised even herself by boasting. "You know nothing of the ways of lightning and storms, my friend."

The Shadow raised one hooved arm to strike in a more direct fashion, but another shot from Aiko's pistol impacted it, leaving it whinnying on the floor. "N-no... no! It ain't suppose to be like this! _I'm_ supposed to beat up the weaklings, not get beaten up by strong folks! It ain't fair!"

Sensing the end of the battle, Aiko sheathed her cutlass, an expression of revulsion on her face now. "In other words, you only joined this place to bully others? You're disgusting!"

The creature's whinnying was getting on her nerves, but she forced herself to listen as it dropped the twangy western accent, speaking purely as itself. "If I don't, nobody will know how badass I am! That's the rule! The strongest are the best!"

Waiting a beat to check her companions' reactions, Aiko carefully studied the eyes of the pitiful monster splayed before them, lying among hundreds of dropped playing cards. "If you want to be truly strong, then become a part of me. Pay attention, and you'll see what true strength really is."

"You're stronger", the Shadow acknowledged hesitantly. "That means if I join you, I'll be stronger too, right?"

"Sure, if that's how you want it."

The pink horse creature became still then, beginning to transform itself into something new and continuing to speak as it did. "Oh, yeah! I remember now. I'm Touki Mezuki. Make sure you tell all your friends about what an awesome badass I am, okay?"

"Amazing", Pelagio remarked once the light had faded, joining Aiko's other Personas. "You really do have quite the gift for taming Shadows, my- I mean, Saber."

Their leader shrugged as if it were nothing, knowing that her display of confidence would boost their own. "Most of the Shadows I've seen here are pretty simple-minded. If someone stronger beats them, they're willing to give them a chance to make an offer for partnership. I suppose that's why Julian-kun's Shadow was able to get so many of them on his side here. He must be __really__ strong."

"Probably", Mira agreed nervously, remembering her own Shadow all too well, the strongest and most malevolent Shadow of her own Land by far. "This 'wild card' thing... how many Personas do you have now?"

She made a show of counting on her white gloved fingers. "Let me think... I have Anne Bonny, Onkot, Lilim, Jack Frost, that golden birdie we found on the island last time, Vidofnir... and now Mezuki. That makes six masks. Why?"

"Do you think maybe, there's some kind of limit on how many masks you can have?"

Her eyes narrowed. She hadn't considered that. All further consideration of Personas went by the wayside when a figure came shrieking out of a dark hiding spot beneath the saloon's ruined staircase, wielding a short knife normally used to cut food until Pelagio's sword extended itself between the figure and her intended target.

For the second time, Aiko stared into the eyes of her own cognitive duplicate. They were mad eyes this time, driven by a mixture of anger and terror, but not enough to completely disregard the edge of the sword that was lying at her gut.

The burden of the next decision settled down across her shoulders then, and she honestly would have rather fought a dozen more Shadows just as tough as Mezuki or the jailer than make it. __Leave or kill? If we leave her, will she come after us? Will she alert the other Shadows?__

 _ _Is__ she __a Shadow?__

"She must die", Pelagio sounded as melancholy as could be expected of someone pronouncing a death sentence on a copy of the one they had sworn to protect. "This is something which I feared might happen, Saber. I have beheld Lands in the past where the cognitions themselves become hostile to intruders, not merely the Shadows. In this case, most of cognitions are merely frightened of us, sensing that we don't belong there, but it seems there are a few here with a different outlook."

She was shaking, she realized. Just looking at the furious expression on this near-perfect copy of her own face was enough to make her tremble. Her, who had now defeated dozens of horrible Shadows of every shape and color imaginable.

Easily sensing her reluctance, Mira drew her dart gun. "I know. I'll do it. I don't mind, really."

But a wide-sleeved arm shot up before her. "No", Aiko murmured, steeling herself for an ordeal just as wracking as high school exams. "Let me do it. Guardian's right. It's better for me to get used to doing this now, instead of a place where we would have to choose while we're being attacked."

Deep breaths came involuntarily now, and she sensed the confusion in her copy as well. Though she still couldn't quite look directly into the eyes, she was able to raise her pistol and take aim. "Sorry."

The cognition spoke to them then. Unlike with Kujou or Mattora, it was her own voice that was snarling threats at them, with only a slight touch of the 'local' accent.

"Y'all are gonna rot in hell. You can't beat a sexy guy like my master Julian! He's gonna kick all your ass-"

 _ _Just a cognition. Not the real me. Not the real me, the real me, not not not NOT-__

Eyes closed, she fired, the sound of the gun even louder without any accompanying noise.

Seconds passed, and she felt nothing. There was the mercy of the body merely vanishing like Shadows did, not transforming as they had feared, but still she felt nothing. Mira and even Pelagio were being tactful, both keeping a fair distance and waiting for her to be ready before they spoke again.

"She... she wasn't me", she managed to breath out at long last. "She was _not_ me. Just Julian-kun's cognition of me. Right?"

"You are correct, Saber", Pelagio said, even more respectfully than usual. "It would be more accurate for us to say that girl was the person that... she is the person that Mr. Rosea secretly desires you to be for him."

Admittedly, _that_ idea was fairly sickening to think about as well. Aiko had to remind herself that this was just like the drooling, brain-dead versions of Kujou, Mr. Noriyama and Ms. Mattora she had seen in the previous Land.

 _ _Someone's imagination gone way, way,__ _way_ _ _out of control, wanting only to see what they desire without a care for any other reality. A man with a high opinion of himself would see any woman who they lo- any woman they__ **like** __in the same way here.__

 _ _So, I__ _guess_ _ _it's kind of like a compliment?__

That notion helped a little. Her hands weren't shaking any more, and she was able to holster her new pistol without difficulty. __One more lingering nightmare that Ishinagi-sensei won't be able to help me with.__

"I hope this was worth it, Saber", Mira remarked carefully as well. "Why did we come here instead of just heading out for Oppressor's Gulch?"

Shaking the last of the malaise away, Aiko knelt down into the wreckage of the saloon's floor, eventually retrieving the metal star. "A few reasons. Firstly, I wanted to make sure our guns worked as we expected them to, and that the Shadows here would react to them the way we wanted them to. Not that I didn't have faith in Guardian, but just in case, you know?"

Mira nodded as Pelagio gave a casual wave showing that no offense was taken. "I guess that makes sense. Though I'm sure you didn't expect __that__ ", she waved at the empty air where the revolting cognitive Aiko had been a moment before.

She gave back a weak smile. "Nooo. But that's not the only reason. I talked to some of the men here earlier, grilling them for information, and it's way too far for us to walk to the Gulch. We either have to use the train, which is actually controlled by the 'sheriff's' men... or we can take horses across the plains."

As expected, Mira's eyes lit up at that idea. "Oooh! I can see why you'd want to do that instead of risking the train. Definitely the safer option too! Good thinking!"

"Exactly", she nodded, holding up the metal star she'd picked up. "If anyone tries to stop us from stealing a ride, we just show them this and pretend to be the sheriff's deputies. No one will mess with us then."

"A wise move", Pelagio considered. "The cognitions here seem to be more frightened of them than they are of us. With good reason, I suppose. How fortunate for us that the Shadows here are disguised in human skin instead of metal shells."

"Yeah", Mira looked more withdrawn now after being reminded of the robot servants in her own Land. "Lucky. Though you might be able to pass for a robot if you wanted, Guardian."

"Hmph! Only if those I sought to deceive were fools."

Aiko paid no attention as they continued to exchange banter, obviously trying to take both their minds and hers off what had just happened and what they had just witnessed. Casually surveying the room brought her attention to a single unmarred table in the corner. Every other card was littering the floor along with several drinks and other debris, but this one had a single intact hand laying on it.

 _ _Two eights, two aces. Hope that's a good omen.__

* * *

The sun was high and the miasma of dust that plagued the rest of Julian's Land had become thin. Outside of a momentary diversion when one of the horses had turned out to be another Mezuki, they had found their rides, which now took them across the peaceful plains outside of the town at an impressive clip, allowing one to simply enjoy the authentic-looking scenery.

Aiko devoutly wished she could have enjoyed it all. "This... is... insane", she managed to grit out in-between the wild bucking of her thin-boned horse, which seemed to only have one speed setting no matter what she did. "I could never... get seasick... yet now I'm... _landsick_!"

Leading the way on a brown mare, Pelagio looked to be having similar trouble even with his lower center of gravity. Only Mira seemed content with it, her long-maned ride lagging behind at a more manageable pace.

"It's the reins", she called to them more coherently. "You have to really haul them back if you don't want them to go full speed. They _want_ to run. It's their nature."

After tugging on them for what seemed like hours, she finally felt the unwilling creature shift to a speed less extreme than a sprint. Every time it bucked she could feel the movement travelling through her body up into her arms, but at least this way she wasn't in danger of eating her own tongue when speaking.

"I thought this would be _fun!_ ", she commented in a mix of relief and irritation. "Come on, getting our own horses? How could we say no? I thought this one looked cute!"

"He _is_ cute", Mira pulled alongside her, watching the beast's gently sloped head as though she would have nuzzled it were it not in motion. "He has a lot of energy. It's not his fault we never learned how to ride before. I think I'll call him _Redding_."

"I guess", she relented. It wasn't like her to complain like this. "But remind me never to go on a roller coaster. I always thought of trying one, but if they're like this..."

"I must... urp... confess a similar sentiment, my lady", Pelagio said, his voice still wavery from what he was enduring. "Why humans would choose to place themselves into such contraptions is... ugh... beyond my understanding."

Adjusting their course due north, Aiko shrugged. "For the thrills. We've got all we ever want and then some here, but most people live pretty boring lives most of the time."

She was amused to note that their talk about roller coasters had summoned a rail line running parallel to their course across the dusty plain. It was a welcome sight since it confirmed there was indeed something of note in this direction, and more so when she heard the blaring of the train's horn and its shrill whistle from somewhere behind them.

It was just one more thing about the cognitive world that impressed her to no end. The steam engine and the cars arranged behind it looked authentic to the 'setting' in every possible detail, a wide cylinder of ashen metal plates shielding an 18th century steam boiler with an endless geyser of smoke emerging from the stack up top, leaving a lengthy trail of soot for miles behind it.

"There's either cognitions or Shadows in there", she pointed out more seriously towards the elegant-looking passenger cars, where several moving figures could barely be made out inside of the windows. "I don't think they'll care, but have your gun ready just in case."

"We should be fine", Mira said more optimistically, smiling and actually waving to the train cars. "They can't recognize us from this distance. Like Guardian said, all the Shadows here are disguised as humans, so we might as well be too."

"Perhaps", Pelagio allowed, drifting back to ride directly alongside the two of them. "Regardless, I shall keep a close eye on- wait..."

His last word sounded so concerned that Aiko could only share in his worry, watching the way that his massive side eyes were studying the ground around them instead of the way forward. Fortunately the horse continued its path without any need for management, and then Guardian's helmet shot back up, his beak set into a grim line.

"Saber. The tracks. It is gradual, but... look closely."

Ten seconds later, Mira gasped. Pelagio was right. It was such a slow motion that a casual glance might miss it, but closer observation revealed that the rail lines stretching ahead of them into the horizon were suddenly much closer to them than previously.

"Hard left", Aiko commanded without needing to think about it. "Give it a wide berth."

Everything seemed fine then. She was ready to kick back and relax and just enjoy the feel of the sunlit day's breeze in her hair when Pelagio slowed down even further and cleared his throat. "The tracks. Look again."

She looked, and looked well. Once again, the change was slow enough to be difficult to notice, but the final conclusion was obvious to anyone who knew this to be a world of human thought, and studied the full length of track that they could see.

It had begun to curve. Not merely a gradual course across an embankment of sand, but a sharp turn away from the straightest path, heading straight towards them. As she watched, the rails continued their shift until they were suddenly directly in the path of the train. The train which had, until now, been content to lag behind them at substandard speeds, only now opening up to full throttle.

"Full speed ahead!", she ordered, no longer caring if she would feel sick afterwards. "Go west! There's a ravine over there!"

Both riders and their surprise pursuer proceeded to drop all pretense of their actions then. The three horses powered on ahead, forcing their riders to cling tightly to the reins until they began to show the first signs of depletion. The train remained tucked in behind them, not quite making the speed needed to catch up and run them over, but only just. Its horn was now loud enough to be a distraction by itself.

Though the temptation to look back and check how close the thing was getting was strong, Aiko used it as an excuse to lean back and unload a pistol shot into the engine, with Mira following suit and putting a dart straight into the large number 8 that decorated the front plate. When repeated attacks by both gun and Persona magic had no visible effect they returned to guiding their steeds, focused entirely now on the moderately wide ravine that would save their lives.

"Ten seconds!", Aiko shouted over the suddenly deafening howl of the train behind them. "Haul back as hard as you can!"

There was the roughest bucking yet, a horse's high whinny of protest, the briefm giddy sensation of flying through empty air... and then she was slamming down hard on the other side of the gap, accidentally biting down not on her tongue after all, but equally painful cheek flesh. The horse continued its sprint as she swallowed down blood, recovering enough to turn around in her saddle and look as they continued to restore their safe distance.

This gap was not a wide one as ravines went. Only a meter across at the most, but it would be enough. The engine was a hundred meters away from the ravine when she turned. Eighty. Sixty. _Thirty...!_

But whatever someone would have rightly expected from a trail derailment never occurred. Instead, as the two rails slid themselves over the ravine, a network of wooden beams materialized beneath them to support their weight, and that of the train's as it rocketed across faster than ever a moment later.

"Oh COME ON!", Aiko shouted into the uncomprehending sun overhead. " _Screw cognition_!"

"We cannot continue our current speed much longer, Saber", Pelagio reminded her, fear not unlike the kind he had of the Reaper gradually creeping into his tone. "And I do not see any sign of Oppressor's Gulch just yet."

Sensing equal terror from Mira that had been carefree enjoyment mere moments before, she shut her eyes for a moment in contemplation. As an experiment, she gave her weakening steed the smallest of side motions, watching as the train followed them exactly, annihilating an unlucky cactus and narrowing the gap between them back to a mere hundred meters, its whistle sounding more akin to a hungry animal's growl now.

"Fine", she whispered before repeating it again, more loudly. " _Fine!_ Ditch the horses."

Mirambela's eyes shot open in fright beneath her mask. "Are you _crazy_? It'll catch up to us!"

"Yes. And when it does, we need to dodge it!"

Dancer's apprehension only grew with that proposal, but she also seemed to realize that the only other choice was pushing the horses until they gave out altogether, leaving them at the mercy of this sudden murderously intelligent steam engine.

"A-all right... I hope you know what you're doing, Saber."

"Yeah. Me too", Aiko agreed. If she was wrong, they were dead. But if they didn't try this, they were dead anyway, just a little later on. _Nijima-san... I won't disappoint you, after all you did to help us._

"We must use excellent timing", Pelagio said a bit more confidently, having understood the plan as they released the reins and stepped off. Unprompted, the trio of horses sped away, not wanting to be run over. _Maybe they're smarter._ "I shall employ a Praesi shield just in case."

All this preparation had allowed the engine to close the gap even further, and they could actually feel the ground rumbling beneath them now. There was no time to give any last words to her comrades, or even a prayer to whatever God she chose.

There was only time enough to hurl herself away from the rail line at the last moment, and even then it felt like she'd been hit anyway from the way the rumbling kicked up to moderate earthquake, preventing her from regaining her feet or seeing if the others had made it alright. _If Dancer got hit, or Guardian..._

But if she couldn't easily stand or hear anything beyond the cacophony of whistling and heavy metal wheels hammering on rails, she could still crane her neck and tilt her shoulders to see if the plan had worked. The train blasted past her faster than ever, the rail line curving in response to the change in target-

The rail line that curved back with all its might, far tighter than any real track ought to, missing her prone form completely. It continued to try however, curling around into a house-sized circle until it intersected itself.

The results were as predictable as they were catastrophic to behold.

It felt like a bomb was going off. The whistling and clanking from earlier was a cell phone's ring tone compared to the noise of the crash that now echoed across the plain. Keeping her head down, Aiko could only watch as the entire steam engine smashed into and _through_ one of its cars, erupting wooden splinters in every direction until the entire bottom chassis gave way.

When it was over, the train had been completely derailed, the engine and cars lying coiled around her in a lifeless heap, pulled free of the tracks that guided it.

Once her breathing had returned to normal and she had made doubly certain that she was not permanently deafened, she stood, easily spotting a gap between the ruined cars to escape the circle through. "Guardian? Dancer?"

"Here, Saber", Mira waved her over to a small jutting rock, embarassed to reveal that she had thrown herself to the left of the train instead of the right.

If anything, Pelagio seemed even more miffed, having jumped up onto the engine with his enhanced agility, then off again when it began to derail. "It went right through my shield spell, like it was _nothing_ ", he complained. "It did not even slow down. Hmph! Worthless! At least your plan worked out in the end. Well done, Saber."

Aiko paused, not quite sure how to feel about accepting praise for a plan that had nearly gotten them all killed. Still, the results couldn't be denied. The entire train lay sprawled across the sand without any of the energy that had driven it before, and there was no sign of Shadows boiling out of the cars to attack them either. _I don't like that, actually... something's up._

She was about to work up an answer for him when another noise, as loud as the train but far more brief, cut into her words and stopped her in her tracks. It was like nothing she had heard before, but the closest approximation was a hundred thousand sizzling, bubbling pots.

Turning back to the train's wreckage, they saw the source and gripped their weapons. The titanic hiss had been only a prelude- now the entire assembly reared itself up out of the sand on its own, a thing alive instead of a construct of metal. As the 'head' reached its maximum height over them, another furious hiss rang out... and the enemy discarded its mask.

The coaches, whatever of them remained, burst apart like rotten fruit, starting from the bottom and travelling up a rapid pace. Each time they did, more and more of a great mass of vibrant blue scales was revealed, culminating when the engine itself exploded, casting its parts and plates in every direction to reveal the fanged maw, forked tongue and terrifying slit eyes of a mighty serpent that was somehow even larger than the train housing it had been.

For a long time, none of them could think of anything to say. The enormous Shadow roared once more, though its body showed nothing of the damage the train had taken, or the figures who had dwelt within the cars. Had they been mere illusions after all, lacking even the substance of a standard cognition?

"Have I mentioned how _glad_ I am that we didn't take the train?", the leader managed to stutter at last. "Because I am."

"Hmph. A Shadow all along", Pelagio grunted, recovering enough to bring his Persona and weapons up, already starting to add to the defense of his comrades- defense that would likely be put to the test soon if the length of the snake's fangs were an indicator. "Its strength is considerable, but we dare not retreat."

"No", Mira agreed, pushing down her own fear at the sight of a train-sized snake. "It would just follow us, right? If anything, this is a good thing. Better to fight it now than later, when we're all tired out." No one bothered to comment on how much it sounded like she was making excuses not to run away, but Oya began bolstering everyone's speed even as she spoke.

 _"Onkot!",_ Aiko called her own Persona choice, deciding on a plan of attack while boosting the team's offensive power to start off. "Looks fast. Better to hit it from a distance. Spread out, and back off if it gets too-"

That was all she could get out before the viper lunged forward, covering the distance between them at a rate nearly as quick as the train would have. Naturally it focused on the target who was firing ineffectual pistol shots into it first, but thinking back to the way it had curved after her earlier, Aiko wondered it if had singled her out for some other reason.

It didn't matter now. What mattered was avoiding those ophidian jaws as they sank down to try and devour her in one gulp, instead gulping down a playground's worth of sand before receiving a more harmful response.

 _"Burn it down, Lilim!"_

The flames washed over the creature with her gesture, leaving some charring but nothing that looked serious. Pelagio's nuclear detonation spell and Mira's lightning struck it from either side at the same time, the lightning seeming to do the best as it lit up the creature's strange ribbed skeleton from within, the creature itself reeling back.

 _No..._ It wasn't just reeling back, she realized in dawning dread. It was _coiling up_ , its barbed tail bracing with tension before releasing it, flying out in a grand circle to strike all three of them at once. The impact felt like it should have been far worse than it was considering the creature's sheer size, but that didn't mean it didn't _hurt._

Blocking out the pain, she shifted Personas once more, this time calling up Jack Frost. The tiny blue-white imp seemed like a ludicrous match for this behemoth, but there was one thing she _did_ remember about the disgusting diagrams of reptiles from science class- they were cold-blooded. The ice seemed to be more damaging than Lilim's fire at any rate, battering the head as it continued to rear back, until...

The head opened, lunging forward as it did so, but not far enough to reach any of its targets. Instead, an ugly purple fluid poured from its maw, coating the entire field until Aiko felt the disgusting muck pouring over her as well. A sensation of profound weakness combined with a stomach ache like the kind she'd gotten from drinking expired milk on a dare in middle school followed. Looking down, she could see that her left boot had taken on the same shade, the color gradually creeping up towards the rest of that leg.

"Poison", she muttered angrily, seeing that the violet goop had infected Pelagio as well even if Mira's Sukukaja-enhanced dancer moves had dodged it. "Can't let this drag on too long, or we're finished... Let's try _Vidofnir_! _Zio!"_

The Shadow didn't seem inclined to cooperate with that plan as the golden bird screeched overhead. The creature's maw hissed again and weaved away from the lightning this time, soaking up the others' attacks before responding in kind with a spinning dervish of wind that was somehow visible by lieu of being _green_. That was made it possible, if difficult, for Aiko to throw herself out of its way much like she had with the train, and counter with additional pistol shots to drive it further back.

The jaws opened to release more venom, only to break off and focus on a different spot- lacking a gun, Pelagio had apparently come to the same realization she had, and charged into direct combat instead of ineffectually dropping nuclear spells. _Have to hurry. I can already feel it starting to get worse._

Mira had changed tactics as well, she noted as she duplicated Pelagio's move, hoping that they could finish the beast before its tail lashed out again. Green energy of a different, more soothing shade covered them as Oya gestured, providing a temporary respite from the pain. _Nice, a group heal. Only putting off the inevitable though. Have to hurry._

The tail did fly out before she could get there. It was in response to Pelagio, who had dug in sword in deep enough that the Shadow was suddenly desperate to throw him off, thrashing the tail back and forth as if their Guardian was some kind of metal-clad parasite. This surprised reaction also set off numerous wind attacks in seemingly random directions, but Aiko dodged through the field of storms until her cutlass was ready to strike as well, her Vidofnir's magic no longer dodgable at this range as it poured forth to shock the enemy.

 _Attack_ , she roared silently at herself, shifting back to the Onkot Persona for even more raw physical power since her mental reserves were just about empty anyway. _Attack, attack, attack. Poison will take effect soon. Don't let up, keep hammering away no matter_ what _he does to me. Mira can heal us through it until he's down. Attack, attack, at-_

Too late, the tail caught her in the chest and sent her sprawling across the dust. More than the damage, it was the distance it had taken her away from the snake's exposed belly that made her wince, more healing from Dancer only barely keeping her on her feet now. More green wind came down, eliciting a shriek from Pelagio before the poison amplified that pain to the point that he could barely speak until he was healed back into a lucid state.

But that deadly storm had still failed to dislodge him. With his sword as a mobile anchor, he had now reached the pouch beneath the viper's chin, a fact that it clearly loathed. As it screamed and thrashed about trying to shake him, Mira renewed Oya's electrical assault, buying Aiko the same to stab back into the beast's belly with all her remaining strength.

The barbed tail flew out once more, but Aiko had caught on to the plan as well now, carefully timing her cutlass to stab into the tip, holding it helpless. _That's it. Its flesh is much lighter than we thought. It has to be, to move around so quickly. Meaning its skin is thin enough to be pierced._

That act deflated the Shadow's venom pouch, sliding the awful fluid back down the throat which had spawned it and allowing Pelagio to leap up and bring the full weight of his armour down on the head, leaving a significant crater as it impacted with the earth. Before it could recover, or try to escape from the trap, his magic-bolstered broadsword was sliding across the immobilized neck segment.

There was one final disgusting _splorch_ of the purple venom, and then the creature's head was flying clear away from its body. The crumpled heap it left on the sand writhed gruesomely for a moment, and then the malevolent light in its eyes faded away as it melted back into the black ooze seemingly common to all Shadows, even one of this size.

Aiko felt like she might do the same now that the adrenaline rush was wearing off. It was probably a relaxing experience, and one that might purge the awful ache that had run up her leg to torment the rest of her body until all she could think to do was _stop_. She could see Pelagio doing the same thing once he'd leaped clear of the slain body, the awful venom spreading across his chest and limbs at a renewed pace.

More healing magic struck them but the effect was hardly noticeable any more, any respite it gave them quickly eroding. _The ravine_ , she managed to think, even if her lips were too chapped and dry to say it. _Need to get to the ravine, and wash stuff this off. The ravine... need to..._

She had time enough to see the railroad track regenerate itself before tumbling down into a void of bubbling purple pain.

* * *

The distinctive scent of sea breeze roused Aiko back to awareness, most importantly the awareness that she was no longer dying of poison. Every other realization was secondary to that vital news, and came on more slowly.

They were not in Julian's Land any more, for one. The indecipherable symbols of orange afternoon light wheeling by overhead as she lay there meant that they were back on the waters of Faraway Lands, the comforting boards of Pelagio's deck floating beneath her. Mirambela sat there, watching over her patient and thrilled to see signs of life from her at last.

"You did it", Aiko said weakly, looking up from the floor at Dancer with a faint smile. "I knew you could. Thank you."

Mira allowed herself one genuine moment of pride, her eyes nearly shut... and then her usual routine of self-recrimination was back in control. "I had help."

The rest of what had happened seemed easy enough for her to process now that her mind was back up and running, but this gave her pause. "Help? Did Pela-tori-"

"Not quite", Pelagio's voice issued from every direction, though still at a reasonable volume. "Remember that I was afflicted by that vile poison just as badly as you were, my lady. No, Dancer handled this crisis alone. And quite well, I must say."

"Then why-"

"I dragged you back to the ravine", Mira explained, her hands clutched nervously. "I-I was trying to wash off the poison. It did, but then you two were both too weak to move, and I couldn't drag you both all the way back to town... or even out of the ravine."

"Fortune smiled upon us then", Pelagio announced brightly. "She inadvertently discovered a Breach in the ravine's waters."

"Breach?"

Mira made a spinning gesture with her hands to indicate what she had found. "A great big whirlpool. I didn't know it was there until it was already swallowing us up. Next thing I knew, we were washing up in a stream in the town."

"Breaches are points where the waters of Faraway Lands are able to peek through the surface layers of a Land", Pelagio explained. "A most fascinating phenomenon, which occurs only in exceptionally large Lands such as that one. They form linked gateways capable of transporting their user to various places throughout."

"Lucky", Mira remarked more soberly. "Lucky to find it, and lucky that the Shadows didn't find us while you two were out cold."

Lurching her to her feet in one movement, she shook her head and was surprised to note the lack of her usual feathered hat, leaving her hair exposed. Her previous pixie cut had lengthened in the last month "No. 'Lucky' would have been not getting ambushed by an evil train that was actually a huge poisonous snake."

Retrieving it, she leaned to the rail, proving more to herself than anyone that she could stand, and bark out at the reflective water. "Attention world; I am an _idiot_. Of _course_ there would be poisonous Shadows there. Of _course_ I'd forget to bring anything to deal with it."

"Enough", Pelagio's voice sounded oddly reprimanding. "Saber, please. If anyone here is at fault, it is I. I am the only one here who has witnessed poison-using Shadows in the past. Not merely that, but Shadows which are capable of lulling their prey to sleep, causing nausea, disease, rage, or even uncontrollable fear."

"And... infatuation as well?", Mira guessed curiously, remembering Marin Karin, one of the powers of her own Persona.

"Yes", he admitted hesitantly. "That as well. At any rate, I should have taken precautions against such attacks. And you... I must apologize to you as well, Dancer."

Mira turned around, searching for a large portion of the ship that might serve as representation of a 'face'. "Apologize? How come?"

Contrition wasn't an emotion the two of them heard in Pelagio's voice often, but it suited his formal tone. "I... after I witnessed your Land, I only agreed to allow you to join us out of respect for Saber's wishes. At the time, I secretly believed that such a weak-minded human would only be a hindrance to us on our missions. This... is clearly not the case. I was wrong. I ask your forgiveness."

With an amused snort, Aiko kicked a boot into his railing as 'punishment'. "I'm sure there's enough blame to go around, Guardian. We just need to find a good drug store, right? One that sells medicines for those kinds of things?"

"You're learning", Pelagio said appreciatively. "Yes, I have already scouted several such places in Tosashimizu city. I merely could not successfully enter the store to make the necessary purchases."

The laughter summoned by the mental picture of Pelagio swooping through the door into a normal pharmacy and buying things helped them shake off the last of their near-death jitters. The memory of it was still fresh however, and Mira leaned heavily against the main mast.

"I appreciate that, Guardian. Really." Leaving the rail, Aiko could easily spot the growing fear in her friend's eyes. "That was way, _way_ too close. Julian-kun's Land has such strong Shadows, and we haven't even fought the strongest one- the ruler- yet. I don't... I don't want to die."

Aiko put a comforting hand around her shoulder, remembering well when she had gone through something similar with only Pelagio there to support her in that moment of crisis. "None of us here want to die, Mira-chan. But Julian-kun doesn't want to die, either."

"Right... right. That's the thing", Mira said, trying her best not to sound deliberately contradictory as she stared back at her roommate. "I know. He's probably just like I was, back then. He _wants_ to stay here in this world. He doesn't care if he never returns. That's what I thought. That's what I believed, until you..."

"Mira... come on."

She gave a sad smile back. "Guardian's right. I was a fool, wanting to drown myself over something stupid like that. No... it was more like I was willing to try anything that would let me escape from it all, from the world... and I didn't want to listen to you either."

"You said that there was a voice", Aiko reminded her, instinctively defending her when she didn't want to defend herself. "A voice that promised you a paradise if you walked through the Yume Bay gate, right?"

Mira searched the bizarre horizon for the ruins of her Land as if it might hold the source of that voice, then pushed her own costume's mask up so that her eyes could be seen clearly. "That voice... yes, I'm _sure_ that it was my Shadow speaking to me. The spiteful, angry mind that I try to repress, given its own form. And only I could hear it."

"Luring you into a false paradise", Pelagio observed neutrally. "But, why? What do these Shadows stand to gain by trapping their true selves in this dimension?"

"I doubt you'd get a straight answer from them", Aiko remarked sternly, by now all too familiar with Shadows of that type. "They're not what you'd call rational by any means. Not Mira-chan's Shadow, or Julian-kun's. Probably not Furusato-san's either, I'd guess. Every time they see us, they just get mad and try to kill us. All we can do is beat them up, and hope the real person comes back to their senses."

Mira joined her on the ship rail, nodding. "Maybe that's what I'm really worried about. You remember what I was like when you found me, how much effort you had to put in to convince me to leave?" She shuddered in suppressed horror. "I remember. I was actually convinced that place was 'heaven'. Julian-kun will probably be thinking the same thing if we find him."

" _When_ we find him", Aiko corrected. "But that's a good point, Dancer. If he says he doesn't want to leave, then there's not much we can do. Taking him by force wouldn't be a good idea. We'll need to be prepared for him."

"I know that you can do it", Mira assured her. "You did it for me, after all."

"Yeah", she smiled back, laughing. "But my plan totally backfired at the last second, remember? I had your dad-"

"Record a message on my phone for me to tell me how he really felt", Mira interrupted. "I know. I listened to it after we got back. It was... nice."

"So... It sounds like you didn't need it after all."

Mira sighed happily. "No, I definitely did. You saw it. The cognitions of my family delivered the message for you, telling me what I needed to hear from them."

Aiko clapped a glove to her shoulder, more firmly this time. "That wasn't my message. It was theirs. It was something your own memories of your family did for you. Meaning that you freed yourself from your Shadow, from the grief that brought you there, _all by yourself_. All you needed was a little push in the right direction, right? So... don't you ever tell anyone- even yourself- that you're weak, Dancer. Because we _both_ know it's a lie, and now Guardian does too."

They sat together staring into the mirrored sea for many minutes, Mira leaning over so that her expression could not be seen beneath the colors of her headdress and golden mask as she drew closer. " _Saber... Asante sana._ Sometimes, I still can't believe that you're actually the youngest person on this team."

Aiko smirked back. "Well, we don't exactly know how old Guardian is. He might be younger. I mean sure, he _talks_ like an old man-"

"Ex _cuse_ me?!", the surprised exclamation issued from the ship exactly as she predicted. "Hmph! I am by no means old! May I remind you that I am capable transforming back into my smaller form whenever I wish?"

"Yeah", she replied teasingly. "But you wouldn't. Not until we're on dry land again."

In fact, it wasn't long before they returned through the gate to Yume Bay, the evening sky darker than usual.

"I'm glad this beach isn't used much at night", Mira noted once they'd changed at the cave. "Can you imagine if someone saw?"

"Two girls in swimsuits and a falcon emerging from a dimensional portal in the water", Aiko pretended to consider jokingly. "Oh well, we can just pretend to be aliens."

"What are aliens?", Pelagio asked as he glided from rock arch to rock arch above them.

The two looked at each other for a moment as if they could hardly believe what they were hearing. After she'd recovered, Mira pointed upwards. "See those stars, sir Pelagio? Aliens are other beings that come from there."

"From the stars?" He sounded both confused and a bit excited. "May I... erm... may I meet with these aliens?"

"Of couse", Aiko carried on without missing a beat. "I'll rent you the movie on Sunday. I thnk you'll enjoy it."

Mira's ringing laughter echoed across the water.

* * *

5/21 Tuesday

Afternoon

Aiko gave a short, sharp cry when the blade slid past her guard to take her in the shoulder. It wasn't that which had prompted the cry however. It was the sudden noise which had distracted her enough to let it through.

Seeing her fall back, Mr. Umaeda withdrew his weapon and lifted his mask, and Keta and Kotone followed suit despite not having such a problem. The mesh-masked fencing suits prevented any actual injury anyway.

"I suppose I should have mentioned this earlier, miss Tsuruga", her teacher said in reproach. "Please make sure that all of your phones are turned off for our sessions, or at least set to silent mode. As you've just seen, distractions are not welcome here."

More than the shock of the hit, which had of course done no damage to her at all after being absorbed by the thick protection of the fencing outfit, it was the scolding which filled her cheeks with heat to bursting. _He must think I'm just like the majority of the girls here, spending more time texting on my phone than I do sleeping._

On the heels of that was the realization that she'd looked down on students who got caught out by a teacher that way, thinking them to be careless. _No longer. I have no right to judge them now, after being caught out myself._

"I'm so very sorry about that, Umaeda-sensei!", she bowed down to him in a genuine contrition she hadn't felt in a long while. "I'll take the message later."

"Please do that", he said not unkindly. "Aside from that slip, I must say that you've come along very well in just a few sessions. You've learned the proper stances, and how to guard against all the standard strikes of _kendo_ , even in combinations."

Seeing the other two students nod their agreement with his assessment even with their faces concealed by mesh masks, she felt a different kind of heat, one much more welcome. "Th-thank you very much, Umaeda-sensei. I've been trying my best, to try and make up for-"

"Stop", the aged instructor cut in more sternly. "Don't you dare make any excuses for that foolish boy. Perhaps he truly is in some genuine trouble, but I would consider it more likely that he ran away from his problems, not caring about broken promises or how terrified his parents must be right now."

 _You have no idea._

That brief incident seemed to have drained the energy away from the session, and though they resumed after it was without the vigor they had displayed previously. Still, the fact that Keta and Kotone seemed to be legitimately enjoying it brought her hope.

Removing her fencing outfit, she took the text message outside in the hall.

All the better for the crowded hall's noise to swallow up her next cry of surprise as soon as she read it.

 _RH: holy shit, he's back 3o_

 _AT: who?_

 _RH: Jiachi Rosea, duh_

 _MS: impossible!_

 _RH: yeah, that's what I thought until I saw him._

 _RH: in the front lobby now._

 _Impossible._ Mira's text reflected Aiko's thoughts. _He's trapped in his Land right now. Unless... could he have decided on his own to leave?_

 _Only one way to see for sure._

She wasn't quite sure what to expect in the main entrance lobby. As far as she understood it, Julian wasn't exactly popular, but his disappearance seemed to have drawn the attention of dozens of students who wouldn't have even known who he was otherwise.

There was a gathering of at least fifty people now, and even though the brief bout of excitement already appeared to be scattering to the winds, she could only see him by the pen being twirled overhead on his hand as if he were putting on a show for them, faster than ever. _No..._ two _pens._

Then Yuuichi moved aside, as she could see the 'guest of honor', looking as though he'd never left. "Hey there. Sorry for scaring everyone. I kinda had some... things to take care of, and I guess I forgot to mention it to my parents."

Mr. Takao was already there with him, looking just as upset as Aiko felt. "That was extremely irresponsible of you, Mr. Rosea. Particularly in light of the recent disappearances at this school. You've made many people worry about you."

"I know", Julian agreed in a more reserved tone that didn't quite manage to conceal just how much he was enjoying being the focus of everyone's attention for once. "Guess I didn't consider that. I really didn't mean to."

Mr. Takao shook his head in amazement at how lightly he was taking this. "I suppose this can only be a good thing. I'll report this to the principal... but you _stay here_ until we've called your parents and the police."

That seemed to be the signal for the rest of the crowd to scatter to the winds. Most of them didn't even know who Julian was until he'd gone missing. They all had studying to go, friends to talk with, clubs to visit. Only Mr. Takao, Aiko and Mira remained watching him.

"Miss Tsuruga", the home room teacher said. "I must ask you a favor. I need to go alert the proper sources, but... for some reason, I don't like the idea of letting Mr. Rosea out of our sight. Could you please watch over him for a moment while I make a call? Bring him to the nurse's office if you would."

She couldn't think of what to say. Instead, Mira covered for her. "I'll watch him, Takao-sensei. Don't worry."

"Thank you. I'll be quick, I promise."

Julian seemed happy enough with the arrangement too, seeming to spring to life once Mr. Takao was gone. "Hey there, Tsuruga-chan. Sorry for all the trouble. I'm hoping we can still get together some time, maybe go to a movie tomorrow?"

Mira began to move towards him, only to pull up short when she realized what Aiko had already seen, raising an arm to warn her away from something she wasn't sure either of them were fit to deal with at the moment.

Gulping, she looked back up. Back up into the eyes of the being who had shot Pelagio, who had locked up them up in jail at gunpoint and prepared their execution by hanging in the other world.

The eyes which only they could see blazed with the hatefully familiar poisonous yellow, which had never been a part of their world... Until now.

* * *

Enemy Profile #5

Mezuki

Arcana : Chariot

Strength : Elec

Weakness : Earth

Abilities : Zio, Rakunda

Background:

A horse-headed demon from Chinese Buddhist lore. Along with Gozuki, he works in the underworld under King Enma.

He tortures the damned with lethal punishments, and when they are brought back to life, he continues their torture anew

* * *

Enemy Profile #6

Ouroboros

Arcana : Fool

Strength : Wind

Weakness : Elec, Ice

Abilities : Zan, Mazan, Tail Swipe, Venom Spray

Background:

A dragon that signifies eternity. In biting its own tail, it forms a never-ending circle. In alchemy, the art of Hermes, it is considered an important material to create the Philosopher's Stone. Some of Ouroboros' aspects are similar to those of Oceanus in Greek lore and the Biblical Leviathan.

* * *

A/N: Surprise!

Lots of action here, and I feel like the battle against the 'mid-boss' might have dragged on a bit too long. I actually cut quite a bit out of stuff to shorten it, but it still feels too long. Oh well, I'll just have to wait until the battle against Julian's Shadow to really go all-out. Hope you enjoy.

'Boi': I hope that was enough of a 'blow up' for you. Thanks for the review!


	24. Heartful Cry

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/21 Tuesday

Lunch

Despite her relative youth compared to most on the force, detective Makoto Nijima didn't think it _too_ presumptuous of her to believe she had been through a lot leading up to her current job.

How many other cops could honestly say they'd ventured into world formed from the distorted minds of violent criminals, defeating them from within? How many had employed their guns against not only violent humans, but _Shadows_ , creatures born from the very darkest of thoughts, some of which were larger than cars.

When asked, her friends had expressed similar opinions on the matter, the idea that everything that they'd done and endured as Phantom Thieves had helped to prepare them, had helped to toughen up their spirits for whatever lay ahead of them on their chosen road to adulthood. That only made sense. Surely becoming friends with their leader, Akira Kurusu, hadn't been the only factor involved. On reflection, she was amazed that he hadn't cracked from the stress of being the director of their activities, both inside the Metaverse and out.

But that was beside the point right now. The point was that she hadn't felt quite this creeped out by a fellow human being since the fall of Masayoshi Shido's palace.

Father Shigetsu, the crippled shepherd of a small but loyal congregation at his church, was making her think not of the perpetrators of certain painfully familiar crimes, but of the victims. Handcuffed to a wooden railing and forcibly seated at a bench, deprived of his brass cane, he struggled against it with his eyes wild and wide with terror, spittle flying out over his robes and nearly staining her uniform.

"They have returned! They are _coming_! The two sides... the calamity! It cannot be stopped!"

If her senior partner, officer Iaji Hideki, was as thrown as she was by the sight, he hid it well. He looked bored, regarding the aged priest as one might regard a mad dog straining against a leash, occasionally prying bushy black hair and sweat back away from his scalp but little else now that they had spoken with all the frightened witnesses. Hideki was fairly young himself, but at twenty-nine he had four years of experience on the force that he held over her at every turn, quickly establishing ground rules about who called the shots when they were on duty.

Makoto often considered him lazy, but he generally stuck to the rules. Most importantly, he wasn't one of the canny few who had managed to escape the purge some five years ago that had placed so many officers on trial for corruption alongside the higher ranks. She couldn't imagine this thin-faced man with his waxy ribbon beard coercing a suspect into signing a confession by breaking their leg, and certainly not shooting an unarmed one on the say-so of some distant puppet master. There were certainly worse people on the force she could have been paired with for her orientation.

"The VEIL! They are COMING!"

Iaji shrugged at the father's ranting, leaning against a bench. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we heard you the first time. When 'they' get here we'll arrest them too. You're worried about nothing, old man."

Perhaps... But Makoto knew better than to drop it at that. Not with father Shigetsu's otherwise sterling record before and after the driving accident which had claimed his leg. She wasn't about to let her irrational fear of the man stop her from getting to the bottom of the current issue.

Iaji, meanwhile, was sighing in exasperation as she returned to the church. "Hey. You wouldn't happen to have a gag on you, Nijima-san?"

She snorted in amusement. "I'm afraid not. Besides, it might aggravate his condition."

"Not sure if it's possible for him to be even more of a nut job than he is already", Iaji remarked, speaking higher than normal to be heard over Shigetsu's shouts. "Not unless it was..."

 _The psychotic breakdown incidents_ , her mental narrative finished for him. The effects of those mysterious shutdowns had left their mark on Japan long after the defeat of their instigators. For what seemed like forever, any kind of deadly accident or breakdown would have being chalked up to being the latest edition of the illness. Only recently had their drop off in frequency caused the rumors to cease.

But the victims of the breakdowns hadn't even been able to talk. At all. This old man was doing that and then some.

"I don't think so", she reassured him confidently. "Those ended years ago, thankfully."

"Maybe", Iaji conceded reluctantly. "Still weird though... all these people I spoke with kept going on about what a nice guy this old man is normally. Then he just goes crazy and starts hitting people in the middle of a sermon? Can't help but think back to those times. The bad times."

Makoto nodded. Finally, something they could agree on. "You were in college then, right?"

"Uh-huh", he confirmed more quietly, studying the benches. "Second year. One of my professors, Ohabara-sensei... he was riding the subway when that damn breakdown happened. I couldn't believe how unprepared they were for it. Had to wait for months before they found a replacement for that course."

"I'm sorry", she said in all earnestness. Knowing exactly what had caused that famous subway accident wouldn't help Iaji now. _Despite our success, we can never forget those who were lost to those accidents, all of it because of Masayoshi Shido's greed..._

She supposed that was the reason why her hands always tightened whenever she saw one of JCAP's colorful posters, or worse, was assigned to 'crowd control' at an actual rally on the streets of Tokyo.

When she'd heard from one of the sermon's frightened attendees about the time months ago when the church had actually been vandalized, her throat tightened and her breathing quickened. Some part of her had screamed to drop everything else and find some evidence linking it to a JCAP supporter, but it would be completely impossible to prove now.

She had long-ago recognized it as the same part of her that actually _wanted_ JCAP to become more reckless than they were, to be more violent in their rallies... So that she and the other officers could arrest them. Or at least do _something_ so she could feel like she wasn't doing nothing about it.

 _Patience_ , she reminded herself in a forced calm. _Remember._ _These people genuinely do believe that they are working towards a better tomorrow for all native Japanese citizens by pushing to remove outsiders. It's not their fault that the leaders are such skilled manipulators of the truth... Like most politicians._

Still, she couldn't deny it sometimes made her wish the Metaverse still existed. As Queen, as a Phantom Thief, she could have traveled into the cognitive worlds of Murama Gouki, Hanae Oda and all the rest, and extracted the real truth behind their words from their own Shadows. Even changed their hearts for the better if that was what it took to make the movement collapse.

 _Yes, and we know where_ **that** _slippery slope would end up. We were given the power to reform society, to thwart the malevolent God at the center of the world's distortion and the evil man who was carrying out the God's desire._

 _Nothing else._

Even if she _had_ fully resisted the temptation to abuse the power of a continued Metaverse for six years, she knew not every member of their team might have. _Ann-chan..._

A pang of pain shot through her head and she paused. She would not have even faulted her friend, Ann Takamaki, for wanting to do that after all she had gone through lately. Might have even joined her. Ann could _very_ persuasive when she wanted to be.

Akira Kurusu's earlier words to her from years ago rang as true in her ears as they almost always did. It was really for the best that they were no longer the Phantom Thieves, even if it didn't feel that way to her sometimes.

 _Enough. You're not a Phantom Thief anymore. Not Queen. You're an officer of the law._

"It's no problem, Nijima-san", Iaji picked up upon seeing her deep in thoughts about the past. "Just bugs me sometimes, that's all. You can spend your whole life working hard, chasing your dreams, and then lose everything just because one asshole can't keep it together." Seeing the father going into frantic spasms, he turned back to him. "Yeah, I'm talkin' about _you_ , old man. You're just lucky you didn't hurt anyone, or I'd really let you have it."

Satisfied with the silence, he stood up, stroking his tiny beard. "I'll call in an ambulance just in case. Watch him."

Leaving her alone with the mad-eyed priest. Which was what she'd wanted, even if her body wanted to be elsewhere at the moment. She sidled up to the cuffed man, trying calm him down by raising her hands defensively.

"The _monsters_ ", Shigetsu was still muttering desperately. "A _monster_ has come to our world. Just like _before_..."

* * *

5/21 Tuesday

Afternoon

Aiko said nothing- did not trust herself to say anything- until she'd managed to grab the Shadow wearing her friend's face and voice by the arm and lead him out to the fountain at the school's main entrance. He didn't resist her grip, only breaking away from her when they all saw that no one was watching.

"Hey, now. What's this about, Tsuruga-chan? You're not mad, are you? I mean it's not like we're going steady or anything... unless you want to change that-"

"Shut. Up", she bit out finally, her eyes twitching. "You're __not__ Julian-kun. You're just a Shadow. So stop pretending!"

A very Julian-like expression of polite confusion came onto his face then, only to be quickly replaced with the look of someone holding onto a royal flush. "Huh? How did you... _oh_. Ohhh yeah. Heh. You're __those__ ones, right? The intruders I locked up the other day? Didn't recognize you without your little cosplay."

"And I didn't recognize __you__ without that... voice thing."

Mirambela stared at their confrontation in alarm. "So he really is... but Shadows can't come into our world! How did he...?"

"Sorry. Trade secret", he said, his hands folded behind his head innocently. "You're wrong though, Tsuruga. I __am__ Julian Rosea. I'm very the best parts of him, got it? And the only thing that I want... is to be free."

The blood rushing through her head finally ebbed and she could think clearly again, trying to size up and comprehend the enemy instead of merely raging incoherently at this farce. "You came to stop people from investigating Julian-kun's disappearance."

The Shadow looked genuinely impressed by that deduction, leaning back on the stairway's stone rail. "Jackpot. Got it in one! Things were getting pretty loud, and I didn't want to rock the boat too hard just yet. It's easier this way. I can enjoy myself until that pathetic loser's seen the light."

 _ _Until he's__ dead _._ "You are a monster."

Stepping back, the Shadow now hauled himself up onto the rail and waggled a finger at her tauntingly. "Oh, come _on_. Now you sound like those JCAP morons, goin' after me just 'cause I'm different. I only want to be free, that's all." Twisted smirk widening further, he vaulted off the stone rail onto the tarmac, dangerously close to Aiko now and presenting an exposed cheek to her.

"Hey. How 'bout it, Tsuruga-chan? We can enjoy ourselves together until the time is right to say goodbye forever to that loser."

Remotely in some place far removed from her current state of horror, Mira felt amazed at the number of emotions her friend's eyes and mouth slid through in just a few seconds at that suggestion, starting with abject shock and alarm before changing to throbbing fury pulsing through her temples and settling on flat-out disgust that manifested itself in slow, stony words as she folded her arms defensively:

 **"I would rather kiss a sewer grate than you."**

The result on the other end was equally stunning to behold. The relaxed smirk on the Shadow's face transitioned into a frightening glower of rage even greater than the one who had rejected him, and when he spoke, the eerie reverb he'd had in their first meeting had returned.

"Fine _._ _ _Fine.__ I see how it is. You'd take that loser over my awesomeness? Guess I'll just have to find some _ _other__ ways to enjoy my freedom then. Heh. Heheheh!"

He hadn't managed to visibly scare Aiko until now, when her face grew pale at the realization of what he really meant by that. No one else besides them knew that Julian __wasn't__ Julian. No one else knew that this revolting creature had none of the kindness and consideration that tempered the original's ego.

"We'll stop you", she managed to blurt out at last, trying to hide her mounting terror. "You try to hurt _anyone_ , and we __will__ stop you. We know what you __are__ , Shadow."

The Shadow heaved an overly melodramatic sigh, his smile returning.

"Tsuruga-chan, I don't know if you've forgotten this or something... but y'know, you __are__ a girl. You can't stop me."

"And you're a _worm_ ", she spat back at him. "Want to see who wins that fight?"

The Shadow stared.

Aiko stared.

Mirambela couldn't tell which of them accepted the invitation first.

There was an indefinite pause stretching out, an outstretched hand, a shaky, crazed flash of movement... and the next thing she knew, her best friend was being held in place by the manically leering man in a double-armed grip that roughly wrenched her arms up, around and behind her back, twisting muscles and bone until it forced a gasp of pain and panting.

 _"Yield._ " His voice was a dark breeze just behind her ear, but loud and forceful enough for Mira to hear it as well. "Give in to me. Beg to me. My cute little... Fairy."

"Mmm... fff... you...!"

Only after hearing that did he release her to slam into the rough concrete of the stairs.

"Well... _that w_ as fun!", he remarked, casually examining one flexing hand. "Checkmate. Shame I can't really cut loose in this world though. People might notice _that_. You okay there, Tsuruga-chan? Did I gwab the wittle baby a bit too hawd?"

It was only then that Mira realized that Aiko truly was in too much pain to actually reply, still panting heavily as she felt at her arms for any kind of permanent injury. __She__ would have to be the one to answer the Shadow now.

"We __will__ stop you!", she warned him, trying her best to sound tough like her friend did in these situations. "As soon as we save the real Julian-kun, you'll disappear!"

She was impressed with herself for managing to get all those words out without a hint of fear, but the Shadow clearly wasn't, treating her with even more disdain than before. "As if you could ever save __that__ loser. Just let him stay there in the world he desires. Really, it's better than he deserves, but hey, I won't complain."

Sensing that Mr. Takao was coming back, he hopped up the stairs back towards the main doors, giving them a finger gun that fired in salute. "Bang, you're dead. Later, Tsuruga-chan. If you ever change your mind, I'll be here... __if__ you're ready get on your knees and submit."

By the time she could speak again, the Shadow was gone. Only Mirambela was there with her, the occasional student passerby providing offhand remarks about how her relationship with the 'hafu' must be going but silence beyond that until Mira broke it.

"He really... the Shadow's here in our world. How?"

"D'no", Aiko managed to grunt out, numbly feeling along her left shoulder to make sure that nothing was permanently dislocated. The Shadow might have had the appearance and build of Julian Rosea but he was far stronger than any human had the right to be. "That... __sucked__... UGH!"

Concern clouded her friend's features. "Lean on me. We'll go to the nurse's office."

" _No_ ", she coughed up, waving both arms around in the air to show that they were fine despite the pain wracking her muscles as she did. "No, no, no, can't, we h-have... to f-finish this. Have to-"

Left shoulder exploding into fresh pain, she fell. She was surprised by the ease with which Mira caught her, moving her own broader shoulder up to support her. A rare reminder of how different they were not only in age, but size. She felt like a broken doll in Mira's strong arms. She didn't like it.

"Can't go... Have to stop him... Have... To..."

But if her friend had lacked the fortitude to be adamant with the Shadow, then she had no such problems brooking no further arguments now. _"Vervlaks,_ you're as bad as he is. _You_ have to rest, Ai-chan. You have to get better, and recover your strength, and lead us. So for now, all you have to do is be quiet. Please."

"Have to stop him", she protested, then blinked. "We _ _are__ still on for this, right?"

Mira felt insulted by the suggestion, but only mildly. Out of the three of them, she had been the one who had been constantly suggesting that they give up on trying to save Julian, the one who enjoyed fighting Shadows the least, and the one most worried that they would die trying. The one who had the least faith in their ability to defeat the Shadows which roamed that dust-covered Land.

The truth hurt, as always. But after the pain of truth came an oddly soporific sense of freedom.

 _ _Now, I have no doubts at all.__

"Oh we are on, alright", she assured her friend, carefully hauling her up the stairs against her unspoken protest. "And then some."

* * *

5/21 Tuesday

Evening

To her immense relief, Julian's Shadow had skipped out on the nurse's office himself for much the same reasons as she had initially wanted to. They didn't have to look at each other there. Even better, the kind nurse had readily bought her excuses about what had happened to her arms, perhaps recognizing her as Benihime Kujou's favorite target for bullying.

Those arms felt much better now, and she had an ice pack on the worst of it, but Aiko had the sneaking feeling that the pain in her head wouldn't subside until she'd wiped that superior, gloating smirk off of the Shadow's face. They had gathered in their dorm room as usual after class and explained the situation to Pelagio at length.

"Hmph. So that is his plan", the falcon noted reservedly, having now recovered from his initial bout of rage and self-recrimination after hearing about what he had done to her. "We must watch that Shadow to ensure that he doesn't hurt anyone else, but if we do that, then we cannot travel to his Land to save the true Rosea."

"That's it, pretty much", Aiko agreed, trying to keep the lingering fury and pain out of her own voice as she spoke. It would help no one. "I don't know if he has some way of detecting if there's intruders in his Land or not, but we can't risk leaving him alone any time outside of classes. You'll have to watch him tomorrow, Pela-tori."

Mira couldn't imagine a worse duty than that, but Pelagio accepted it without complaint. "He shall not harm a soul while I am there watching him, my lady. Two humiliating defeats from that repulsive wretch is more than enough."

 _Yield._

"Good. Meanwhile, we need to find some way to distract him, get him in a position where he won't have time to hurt people while we're gone."

"How do we do that?", Mira asked aloud, hoping to hear a good answer. "We can't stop him from doing whatever he wants. As far as everyone else knows, he's just Julian-kun. If he decided to kill his parents tonight, we wouldn't be able to stop him."

 _Give in to me. My cute little Fairy._

"An alarming concept, certainly", Pelagio admitted from his perch on the ledge. "Fortunately for us, an unlikely one as well. He came to your world in order to prevent people from becoming suspicious and worried about his human self's disappearance, yes? He would need to lie low and wait for the time to run out before he would consider himself free to engage in such vile behavior."

Mira relaxed about half an inch hearing that. "How is he doing that? Don't other people see his eyes? Or hear his creepy voice? I mean, what is wrong with people?!"

"It is likely that only we three are able to detect those signs", Pelagio explained. "Because we have visited Faraway Lands, which has expanded our minds, changing our cognition."

 _Free, huh?_

Innocently, Aiko checked out the status of the water outside, squinting to see through the window in the darkness of near-nightfall. It was still a high tide with decently strong waves, but it gave no indication of how long it might remain that way.

 _ _Julian-kun's still out there, waiting. Thinking he's in some kind of paradise while this Shadow runs around with his face and name.__

"So, we're actually safe from him doing anything bad out in the open that would attract a lot of attention. Thanks, Pela-tori. That's a big load off. I still want you to keep an eye on him though, just in case. I'll call Nijima-san as well tomorrow, and tell her what's going on." _ _Anything he__ **does** __do is still on us, for not acting quickly enough. Maybe she can help with that.__

Climbing up onto the refuge of her bed, she put a hand to her temple, trying to jar an answer loose.

"Of course, even if we go back to his Land, we still have no idea if Julian-kun is willing to return with us when we find him. We need to understand what exactly made him walk into that gate, and why that reason is wrong."

"Just like with me", Mira remembered shakily. It wasn't a fond memory, although it had been once upon a time. "Tomorrow, then. We'll search around the city for anything that might relate to Julian-kun's problems. His parents are a start, but Tenri-kun knows him from last year as well."

"Tenri-kun", Aiko repeated, adding the injured soccer veteran to the list of possible contacts who would help them. "Obviously, it had to be related to George, or Gentaro, Rosea as he's known here. That person who called his parents when he died... the caretaker. You think they might know something?"

"That would definitely be a better lead than Tenri-kun", Mira agreed eagerly. "We'll need their address, then. I just hope they haven't quit because of that."

"Even if they did, we'll find them", Aiko promised. "If I have to question every single person in this city to save Julian-kun, then that's what we'll do."

Mira paused, unsure of how the next words she wanted to say might be taken. When she noticed even Pelagio staring raptly at her, she went forward with it.

"Ai-chan... You're _still_ so dedicated to him, after what we just saw today? After what he just did to you?"

To her relief, Aiko didn't seem angry with her at the idea. Just confused and frightened, any lingering fury directed entirely at the Shadow instead of her. The memory of her brief time fighting it in the real world continuing to play itself back in her mind again and again on loop.

 _Yield. Give in to me. Beg to me._

"Okay", she breathed out. "Fine. I'll admit it. Julian-kun... he really might not be the kind person that I thought he was when we went out on a date. But... you know for yourself how Shadows are, Mira-chan. Julian-kun's Shadow isn't really him, any more than your Shadow was the real you."

"But it _was_ ", Mira emphasized carefully, still trying to make someone who had never met their own Shadow understand her words. "That's what I keep trying to tell you. Deep down, I really __did__ feel the same things that Shadow was talking about. I _wanted_ Kujou and Mattora, and everyone else who believes in JCAP's ideals, who had ever picked on me to suffer like I did, and worse."

She seemed momentarily paused by that concept, though she had surely heard it before and had weeks to process in her head what exactly the relationship was between a Shadow and the person it originated from.

"I told you that I try my hardest not to hate anyone", Mira continued staring back into her shrouded gaze. "But that doesn't mean I don't still do that sometimes. Sometimes... I just can't help myself. The only way to get that Shadow to give up was for me to accept that was the way I really felt, deep down... and for me to realize how stupid it was for me to feel that way."

Breathing out pure, unrefined tension, her friend nodded back slowly. "Between how his Shadow behaved and the cognition of me that we saw, I get the feeling he's taken a liking to me. I mean, __duh__."

"Shadows are the manifestation of a human's suppressed inner thoughts", Pelagio offered peaceably, concerned that they might have another fight right there. "Anything they wish to do or say or _be_ that your civilization forbids them is pushed into the background, into the depths of consciousness. Suppressed, but never forgotten."

Aiko felt her hands involuntarily tighten into fists. "So, you're saying that the Shadow is the way that Julian-kun would behave if he didn't care at all about getting in trouble? Or about anyone else's feelings?"

But the falcon's round crested head shook a negative. "You forget that there is so much more to a human mind than only their Shadow, captain. Everything about them that you see regularly, that isn't suppressed... __that__ is what is currently stuck in sir Rosea's tailor-made prison. The good qualities which first attracted you to that young man are what the malevolent shell currently residing in our world lacks."

Biting into the swelled flesh on the inside of her cheek from the ravine jump, she nodded calmly. Pelagio's explanation was a lot better, a great deal easier for her to accept as fact than the notion that Julian really had been the louse they'd met today all along. "That's right. You said their 'souls' were trapped, and in danger of being lost."

"A bit of artistic license on my part, perhaps", he said sheepishly, raising his uninjured wing as if to guard against an accusation. "I must confess to a poetic nature at heart. But essentially correct. When we saw miss Sorano speak with her Shadow before, it was the two disparate halves of her consciousness aligning with each other, and becoming one mind again."

"I told you", Mira insisted. "She was me. Honestly, I really shouldn't be judging Rosea-kun for anything that his Shadow does here. If that means that we're both bad people inside, then..."

"Like hell", Aiko corrected her acidly, seeing Mira jump in fright at her words. Unlike Reiha or Julian, she used that kind of language sparingly enough that it remained a jarring shock to hear coming from her young mouth in the few rare cases that it did.

"If anything, Mira-chan, you're a way nicer person than I am. And... I don't __care__ what kind of dark thoughts Julian-kun's been keeping locked away inside him. He's still a human being. He doesn't deserve to be stuck out there all alone, no matter what he's done or what he wants me to be for him. And Nijima-san is right about that. We have no right to judge."

She looked back at Mira, who seemed more impressed by those words then than anything Aiko had done to save her back then. "I guess so. It's just kind of depressing to realize just how many people must have hidden Shadows inside of them."

"Nearly everyone", Aiko made a guess, making a mental note to talk to Nijima about this topic when they had more time. "Especially adults. I'm honestly surprised that I didn't have one myself."

"You are more talented than you believe, my lady", Pelagio encouraged her. "For one, I have never witnessed a gift such as the 'wild card' before now."

"Maybe." She sniffed at the window, wondering if they would luck out and spot Julian's Shadow from there. Anything to distract from what was really eating her mind up now, and fighting to free itself through her lips until she could hold it back no longer.

 _Yield. Give in. Beg._

 _Pain. Beg and the pain will end. You can't win._

As before, Mira seemed to read her with ease, watching and waiting silently for the pain and humiliation to catch up, and offering up a comforting smile when they did.

"It's okay, Ai-chan. My mom always said that there is a great power in tears. It's not weakness, like so many believe. It's the strength to admit your grief, to admit when you can't handle something. When you know that your anger is useless, you cry instead. Go ahead. It's okay."

In contrast to the storm brewing on the outside, she had to laugh inwardly at the realization. From inwards to outwards the laughter spread, finally, grudgingly manifesting itself as an uncontrollable, minute-long bout of agonized sobbing and wailing that she had believed her body had long ago lost the ability to create, restrained as it was by years of maturity since the last time she had cried in public.

The ice pack continued to sting her arm heedlessly and now her face was streaked with burning tears sliding down her face... but for some reason, she felt better than before, blinking and sniffling as she spoke like she had a pronounced head cold.

Neither Mira or Pelagio looked surprised. They'd known from the moment they'd seen her get out of the nurse's office that something was still terribly wrong with their appointed leader.

She found it difficult to speak after that.

"Uh...Thanks. Sorry. Both of you. It's... been... Been a long time since I did that. Used to do it. All the time. When I was in middle school. Wasn't always 'Aiko the Psycho'. Used to... be called... 'Crybaby Ai'. So. Learned to... not cry. Ever."

Mira and Pelagio exchanged looks with each other. They were concerned, but hardly repulsed by the sight of their leader breaking down into tears. "It's only fair", Mira offered peaceably. "After all, you've seen me cry more than once."

"You are still human", Pelagio agreed from his window perch. "Humans seem to make strange keening noises and leak water out of their eyes whenever they are in times of extreme stress or sorrow. Or at least the females do."

They both glared at him over that, but they couldn't keep it up for long before Aiko collapsed into sniffling laughter on her bed at his words. "T-thanks, Pela-tori. I... I needed a good laugh, just then."

"I think we _all_ deserve a good laugh after this is over", Mira offered. "Something that won't kill us or make us cry. I'm up for any ideas."

"Something that will make Pela-tori laugh", Aiko agreed eagerly. "This requires planning!"

The raptor's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Hmph. If your wish is for me to laugh, my lady, then I shall laugh."

"No, no, no!", she shook her head, amusement glittering in her eyes driving away the earlier fear. "You can't just order someone to laugh. It has to be something that they really find funny. Don't worry, Pela-tori. I'll think of a way. _That_ will be my next goal after we save Julian-kun."

"Finishing the easier task first", Mira observed. "Good idea." Returning her attention to Aiko, she carefully placed a hand to her friend's face to wipe the last of the tears away.

"Like I said; you shouldn't feel guilty, Ai-chan. Not after what you've just been through. I'd cry too."

"Thanks." Leaning back onto the bed, she sighed up at the ceiling, hands clenching up from the memory. "That's the problem, I guess. What happened back there at the fountain with Julian-kun's Shadow... if he'd wanted to kill me right there, no one could have stopped him from doing it. Not even you. Without my Personas, I couldn't do anything at all. I was completely helpless."

"You have my sincerest apologies, my lady", Pelagio said devoutly. "Merely give the order, and I shall punish that wretched knave for this affront to your dignity."

"No", she raised a finger in warning. "Just follow him around after tonight, and report back. If he actually tries hurting someone, _then_ you can claw him up. But not until then, understand?"

Pelagio reluctantly nodded, talons clenching and unclenching with suppressed desire of his own.

"I've been training with captain Byzael for over a month now", Aiko continued on, speaking to no one in particular now. "Fighting Shadows. Fencing with Umaeda-sensei. I've been fishing whenever I have time, and carrying those heavy plates at the Starlight diner too. Yet that __creep__ _pinned_ me in three seconds. Maybe... maybe I'm just not meant to be strong."

Now Pelagio sounded harsher than normal, his raptor's eyes piercing into her defeated musings and memories of exactly how it had felt to be so helpless in the Shadow's tight grip.

" _That_ is an unfair comparison, my lady, and you know it. Shadows possess strength far greater than any human even before they discard their masks and transform. You are __not__ weak. You are quite strong, for a human."

"Besides", Mira chimed in, "if you're really that worried about it, just look at Hayato-senpai. She's practically a bodybuilder underneath that Goth attire. If you keep at it, you can be as strong as she is... if that's really what's important to you."

"And there are other forms of strength besides the physical", Pelagio continued, eyes piercing into them both. "You girls have taught me that much already."

"Okay, okay, okay", Aiko threw up her hands in surrender, smiling. No matter what any Shadow did to her, no matter how she felt, or even if she cried, she would always have at least two people who would never give up on her. "Okay. I get it. My pity party's over with now. Time for us to go get things done. Tomorrow."

Mira gave a teasing chuckle. "After homework, of course."

Another sigh, one more resigned. "Of course."

* * *

5/21 Tuesday

Evening

Aiko had gone to sleep expecting to endure the worst; the renewed sensation of those awful hands grabbing her and pinning her. The awful sensation of helplessness. A hideous. prideful voice rasping in her ear, commanding her submission and threatening her with pain unending if refused him.

 _Yield. Give in. You can't beat me._

Thankfully, at least for tonight, that voice was silent even in her memory. There was only the feeling lingering now, the awful sensation of phantom hands running themselves over her body.

 _Scared? My little Fairy?_

The taste of air that was not truly air was familiar to her now. Standing up into blue drapes and perfectly circular port holes was no longer alarming, and neither was the sight of her host. She wasted no time on the first question at hand.

"Did Nijima-san ever come here?"

Seated at the single table, Igor leaned back with his usual gleaming rictus smile. "Ah. A most interesting question, Dream Voyager. Yes, and no."

Beside him, the velvet room attendant Bartholomew shook his head in vexation and gestured around at the wooden floor and the dark ocean still raging outside. Even _he_ could get annoyed at his master's tendency towards the cryptic sometimes. "This velvet room changes according to the perceptions of its occupant. It was a very different-looking place back when the Trickster was our guest here, though its purpose remained the same; To nurture the human spirit through times of darkness."

"Indeed", the host agreed, sharp nose unnaturally still in the non-air. "Even then, the noble allies of the Trickster only ever visited that velvet room once, at the final hour of their triumph. For the time being, this room is yours alone, Voyager."

Head sinking down towards the cards already carefully arranged on the table, he moved one hand down to touch the back of the nearest card, which had yet to be revealed.

"It would seem an unexpected situation has arisen. The enemy has acted to prevent your successful abduction of the lost one."

"Shadows emerging into the real world", Bartholomew nodded in more obvious concern. "I never believed that it was possible until now."

Sharing in their worry, Aiko tried not to let her voice falter. "Just the one, I hope. He hinted that he had some kind of outside help getting out of Faraway Lands. Some other power backing him up. If a Leviathan Shadow ever got loose in our world..."

The danger of that scenario hung there in the air, begging to be addressed until Bartholomew tipped his naval cap down until his eye patch was partly hidden. "Yes, that would be a disaster. Thankfully, the Shadows which are intelligent enough to take advantage of such a thing are few in number. However, that does little to diminish their threat in the other world."

"We noticed", Aiko nodded. "We'll be better prepared next time. Actually, that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about, Bart-kun. Can we do that 'fusion' thingy again?"

The attendant gave a wry smile, moving over to tap one of the hanging cages near the wall. "Of course, Voyager. This ritual was created for your benefit, and hardly meant to be used only once. Truthfully, I'm surprised that you've waited this long before employing my services again."

She shrugged, by now more that used to how foolish talking with these two made her feel sometimes. Clearly, dealing with past wild cards had left them with high expectations for the future potentials.

 _Just have to hope I can meet those expectations. If how Nijima talks about 'Joker' is any sign, then I've got a ways to go yet._

Still, she wasn't gong to forget the detective's previous words to her either; _When you smile all confident like that, you look a bit like Joker._

 _But... did Joker ever cry like I just did when he got hurt and humiliated like that?_

 _No. Doesn't matter. I'm not Joker._

 _Joker is Joker. And I am me._

 _I'm Saber._

 _And I will never be so helpless again. **Never.**_

"I need to be stronger", she offered the attendant, her arms wide imploringly. "More than that, Mr. Igor, _I_ need to be confident in that strength. When Mira-chan and Pela-tori see me fighting... They need to see someone who encourages them to try hard as well. Someone who will convince them that no fight is ever hopeless, that we still have a chance to win, no matter how strong the Shadow is."

As always it was hard to tell with his ghoulish face, but Igor seemed quite excited over her honest declaration of need. "You understand, then. A leader's purpose is not merely to give out orders to those underneath them, but to also provide an example to others. Yes... the Trickster was a positive example to many others as well, both those on his team and outside it. Kindling their wills of rebellion to heights of power which they would not have been able to reach alone."

"Then... That's what _I_ need to be", she agreed. Then frowned. "That's what I _want_ to be, not just need. I _want_ Mira-chan to be confident in me, that I'll always be there for her. I _want_ Pela-tori to know that I can always take of myself without him hovering over my shoulder all the time."

"Yes. Nearly all humans need dramatic examples to inspire them", Bartholomew seconded. "Even those examples, those greatest of leaders, require inspiration in turn, whether fact or fiction."

Knowing where he was going with that idea, she chuckled quietly, arms clasped behind her back.

"I guess I really can't hide anything from you two, can I? This is all inside my head, after all. Yep, I've been reading up on Anne Bonny in the school library. And even before that, I can see the kinds of characters that I liked watching in cartoons on TV who led up to that. The champions. The leaders. They were all so strong. All my life, I just wanted someone who could be like that for me in real life... turns out, _I_ am that someone. I just didn't think of it that way until now. Until my Persona showed me the truth about who I am."

"There is no need to hide", Bartholomew offered with a welcoming smile. He must have known about the few stressful years in middle school when she had been 'Crybaby Ai', but there was no judgment in his expression.

"I always find it so fascinating how historical legends can inspire humans to action, even if they are grossly distorted representations, or were never even real at all. Because it provides them with an ideal to strive towards, a person who they wish to become... A mask."

"That's it", she agreed. "That's right. I need stronger masks. And I'm sorry I didn't ask you before now. I guess... I guess I was still reluctant to let go of them. Even the weaker ones like Onkot."

"That", the attendant wryly, "is another extremely common human trait. The reluctance to let go of a possession, or even a friend, which has remained with you for some time, and become a comforting presence. Most humans desire stability, a sense of continuity that promises them the world will still exist tomorrow."

Chuckling creepily, Igor raised his gloved hands to encompass the whole of the 'velvet ship'. "Ah. Yet, change remains immutable. An entirely static world is no more desirable than an entirely fluid one. This velvet room, my home, shall ever be subject to constant change, so long as human thoughts continue to shift."

"For as long as humans exist", the attendant echoed, turning back to their guest. "Your loyalty to your masks is most admirable, but you must remember what I told you before. They will continue to live on in new forms. And..."

Reaching into his buttoned sailor's vest, his produced a new item. A large, thick-covered book with a grinning skull and crossbones on the cover, so prominent and sharply colored that Aiko thought it might very well leap out of the tome. Instead, Bartholomew merely split the book open to show her the inner pages, most of which were dusty and blank.

"It took me quite some time searching through this place's inner halls", he said proudly, "but I finally found where my predecessor hid the Persona Compendium. With the special rituals in this book, in exchange for a certain monetary fee, we will be able to restore any of your former masks from your memory alone."

Brightening at the idea, she stared into the pages, the letters of tiny, archaic writing, already sensing the familiar shape of Fomor and even Gu Huo Niao within them. "So they're never really lost forever... good. Then, let's get this started, Bart-kun. I want to do some Fusion until I'm ready to beat that creep wearing my friend's face. I'll make _him_ cry."

The attendant was all too pleased to oblige her. None of the trio said anything beyond what was necessary as the rope-bound cages accepted new occupants, dropping into the black abyss again and again, each time reforming into newer, stranger shapes whose increased strength and potential could be felt the very instant they stepped out of their prisons to meet and greet their new master.

The master who maintained a solemn, silent vigil all throughout the process, each time bidding a fond farewell to everything that she was surrendering in order to gain victory.

It wasn't until she woke up the next day that she would become aware of tears staining the sheets of her dorm bed.

* * *

5/22 Wednesday

After School

Tosashimizu city remained as it always was. People bustled about, driving, walking, talking, texting, eating and shopping. Completely unaware that one among their number was no longer truly human.

They were here today to begin to change that.

The Rosea house looked exactly the same as it had the last time they had visited. She was probably imagining the idea that the white stone exterior looked a bit more subdued than before, a little bit less lively. What was harder to believe was that it had only been a week since that previous visit, since everything had spiraled so far out of control and the only son of that family had disappeared from the world.

It felt like a lifetime had passed.

"Are you sure about this?", Mira asked from behind her shoulder for the sixth time, in not quite so many words.

Aiko nodded in understanding, but the answer remained the same. "I know. You don't want to hurt them. I don't either. They've both suffered enough already. But they'll suffer even more if we _don't_ do this."

Once again, she found herself glancing up into the sky expecting to see Pelagio gliding around there, their ever-present protector, and only then remember that he was watching the Shadow. They were on their own for this one, and quite abruptly the house didn't just feel drained, but also potentially dangerous.

"You don't have to come with me", she offered quietly. "I get it if you don't want to talk with Mr. Rosea, after the things he said last time."

But it was Mira's turn to put her foot down, pounding one fist into an open palm. "And leave _you_ to deal with them alone, just because he might say some stuff I don't agree with? If I did that I'd never come to school."

"Point taken." Trying to forget all the imagery and sounds from their first visit, Aiko carefully stepped up to the door, raising a fist to knock-

And nearly cried out in surprise when the door slid open at her touch. "Not locked?", Mira questioned. "After they got vandalized a few years back?"

"They were locked before", Aiko pointed out, already sliding the door the rest of the way open to see exactly what was going on, to see if anything matched the theory already brewing in her head. "Must've been a mistake. It happens. Maybe more than usual now."

And somehow, that made it even more difficult to take the first steps in, though they managed in the end. The hall and kitchen beyond were dark this time, only lights from the living room an indication of habitation, guiding them towards it.

It was a television's light, she realized. It was too inconsistent to be one of the small ceiling lights they had seen used here last time, shifting around in various planes of color acting as the sole illumination in the dead-seeming room.

"Daddy!"

The sound- the first out of the general murmur of the TV that she had been able to make out- made her jump before drawing them in closer. By some unspoken instinct, both remained behind the kitchen counter, close enough to see the TV as well as take note of the light reflecting off the motionless face of the seated viewer. Mrs. Rosea only had eyes for what was on the screen then, taking no note of any intruder.

"Daddy, look! Look! I'm riding! Mommy! Daddy, I'm riding! Look!"

Seeing little else available that didn't involve a very awkward reveal, she focused on the show as well. The recording had the slightly off-kilter color balancing that suggested that it wasn't a professional recording or live broadcast, complete with the occasional shaking of the camera.

That did a disservice to whoever had been holding it, she knew. People watching live reports all the time and usually failed to appreciate how the slightest twitch could send a camera's view flying. It needed a steady hand, and as it zoomed in on the source of the noise, even these small shakes vanished.

The boy riding the horse had chubby cheeks common to his age, what adults called 'baby fat', that made his blush more pronounced and his lips look puffed. That did nothing to diminish a certain trait that Aiko had once known and forgotten; a simple, unarguable element to any child of that age when they were having fun. The smile of uncomplicated joy on that face made her smile for a moment as well before returning to the issue at hand.

"Rosea-kun", Mira whispered in her ear. "It has to be." That was the only part of the video that either of them could recognize. Both the location and the horse were completely unfamiliar, some kind of plain sparse of grass with a wooden fence around it.

"Daddy, look!"

The horse jumped forward then, and Aiko feared the child might fall, but he held onto the reins well, showing a beginner's experience at riding that she didn't think was possible for someone so young. Hauling back further on them ground the animal to a halt, allowing Mrs. Rosea- a much younger-looking version- to step in and help him get back down to the ground. The moment he got there, he started stroking the horse's flank affectionately.

Then they could no longer see what happened next, as a dark figure rose up out of the chair to block their view. This time it was Mira who jumped, but there was enough light to spot the look on the present-day Mrs. Rosea's face.

She didn't look mad. She didn't look like much of anything towards them at first, emotions slow and unfamiliar to rise to the surface until some part of her remembered how to smile.

"...Silly. I guess I must have forgotten to lock up. Don't tell him, will you?"

Obligingly, Aiko reached over to flick the light on. At the same time, Mrs. Rosea was switching the previous light off, the image of the smiling brown-haired boy vanishing to be replaced by her blue dress.

"Sorry, Mrs. Rosea. We didn't mean to barge in."

"You're not barging", the woman observed distantly. Almost happily, like she'd wanted them to come. "You're sneaking."

"W-we didn't want to. We just..."

Sensing her falter, Mira nodded. "We came here to ask you about Rosea-kun. But if now's not a good time-"

Relief spread over her portly features then, giving her leave to release a breath that had been cooped up far too long. "Oh, thank god. Thank god. I was beginning to wonder if I was going mad. If we _both_ were going mad. Thank you. Thank you, both of you. I'm sorry I don't have much food to offer you right now. I'll prepare something-"

"That's fine, Mrs. Rosea", Aiko said respectfully, fighting off a panic attack. She was already having nightmare images of the Shadow bursting in on them mid-snack. Pelagio had said he was nowhere near the house right now, instead heading off to the mall, but that could always change.

It wasn't her suggestion that stopped Mrs. Rosea from carrying through on her idea, she noted, but a weariness that could be felt all the way from the kitchen, like it was something that she wore and carried with her at all times. In fact, she might have been looking a fair bit heavier than last time. "Perhaps you're right, but I won't let you get away without some tea, at least. Come and sit. Please."

A few minutes later, she was carefully setting a steaming up aside, staring back at the two girls with frightened eyes.

"I knew I wasn't mad. I knew there was something. I _knew_... Something is terribly wrong with my baby boy, isn't there?"

Aiko tried to speak and felt her tongue freeze, logic and emotion suddenly at war within her. _I can't lie to this person. I can't. She's so kind. All I can do is omit facts that would lead to further questions about things she has no way of understanding._

"I... think so too, Mrs. Rosea."

Sensing Mira's assent as well, she looked at them with renewed gratitude, finally sensing someone that she could share her private doubts with. Someone who would understand.

"I was overjoyed initially, of course. My poor lost son finally returned to us, after being gone for days when mysterious disappearances have been the local story for months now. Who wouldn't be happy?"

"Everyone at school was glad to see him return, Mrs. Rosea", Mira offered.

But Hirata Rosea regarded her with a wry smile. "Now, now. There's no need to embellish. I know myself that he's not the most popular person at school... and _not_ because he's a 'hafu' like he seems to think. No. I would imagine the staff, and especially the principal, were overjoyed. No more pressure to hurry up and find the missing students, now that two of them came back." Here she nodded back towards Mira.

"What exactly happened to you, dear? You left for several days, then returned, just as he did."

Mira frowned, brow furrowing. Like Aiko, she disliked having to lie. Every word she had said to the police had been the truth. They had just chosen not to believe it.

"I went on a... a journey. I had time to think about some things, and then I decided to come back."

She chose not to take offense at the vague allusions, leaning back and considering the meaning. "My boy, my baby, my Jiachi... He has changed as well. If he took that time to 'think about things' as you did, then it's changed him for the worse. I've never seen such a massive change in anyone before. He tries to hide it, but... Mothers always know."

 _Mothers always know._ Those words so close to the heart made Aiko stiffen up, but she recovered quickly. "That's why we came to visit you, Mrs. Rosea."

Which wasn't completely true either. Knowing just how distraught Julian's parents must have been after comprehending that their son's return was a mere illusion to placate curious minds, they had avoided coming here until there were no other leads left.

Tenri had been only mildly helpful, offering information about Julian's behavior in sports and how it related to him never being allowed onto teams. Serizawa, the housekeeper, had been on vacation after the horror of witnessing one of her charges die in front of her.

Which left the parents, the people who knew Julian the best of all. "Is Mr. Rosea at home?", she asked.

The woman became grave. "No. He's working overtime. Trying to avoid Jiachi as much as possible, so he can convince himself that everything's back to normal and our son really has returned to us."

They could both practically taste her despair, her feeling as though their family was falling apart with nothing she could do to prevent it.

"Do you blame him?", Aiko asked carefully.

"No." She shook her head, eyes focused into the floor now. "Not for that, at least. I feel that urge as well. That if I just stop thinking about it for a while, everything will be better." Forcing a heavy head back up, she looked back. "I love Akusa Rosea. I vowed to always remain at his side, no matter what tragedy strikes. I just wish he understood that Jiachi needs his father after losing his grandfather."

The two shared an unease glance, knowing already that the truth was more complicated than that after seeing Mr. Rosea in person.

"Jiachi-kun seemed to like his grandfather more than his father."

Light from the window reflecting off auburn hair, Mrs. Rosea brightened then froze, as if she wanted to laugh but had forgotten how. "Oh yes. That's been the way of things for many years now, ever since they gained citizenship here. As you probably know, they emigrated to Japan shortly after Jiachi was born."

"Right", Aiko echoed, trying to sound like they had been expecting that answer. "It's easy to spot the signs. Akusa and Gentaro are American-born, right?"

"Yes." They both sensed the emotional crack then, long-held secrets pouring forth. Never mind Julian's Shadow; if Mr. Rosea came home from work a bit early, they were going to be in so much trouble... _Steady_ , Aiko commanded herself. _Whatever has to be done to save him, we will do._

"We met there, and we were married. I was willing to stay there in his country if he wanted, but he wanted to go live with me in my home country, in Japan. He said that he liked it better, against Gentaro's wishes. Said that he didn't want to do anything that would make me uncomfortable." She shrugged helplessly. "The love and consideration that I show to him is the equal to what he shows me. I only wish that he could pass those feelings on to our son."

Taking a long drag of the tea, she pried her hair back, eyes nearly shut so they wouldn't have to see their reactions to the words. "He... legally changed his name for me. He was once Adam Rosea. He changed his father's name too, from George to Gentaro. And of course, Jiachi..."

"Prefers to be called Julian", Mira finished understandingly.

"Yes. But my love was insistent. It was all that I could do to stop him from changing their family name as well. That's the rift between them. I know it."

"Changing his name?", Aiko wondered.

"And everything else", Mrs. Rosea confirmed sadly. "I never asked him for any of it. But _Anata_ was so afraid. He didn't want us to stand out. 'The nail that sticks up gets hammered down', he would say. He forbade our son from ever learning English. Forbade him from even watching or reading anything in any language except for ours. He wanted Jiachi to dye his hair black as well- so he could fit in better, you see- but relented when Jiachi threw a tantrum about it."

She shuddered. "I still remember hearing them argue into the night about it. It hurt me more than I can say. And as Shido and JCAP began to rise in power, his fear only became worse, the strain between them greater."

The two visitors shared an alarmed look, assorted sights from the other world suddenly sliding into place.

"I felt it", Mrs. Rosea continued, more distressed now. "I always tried to stop it. I kept asking them both privately to drop the issue... But that's one thing neither one of them would ever yield on. Of all the traits to inherit from his father, he just had to get his stubbornness."

In the current dim lighting and broad clouds outside, it was all too easy for Aiko to imagine the tense atmosphere that could grip this house when it was subjected to an argument between family, like a pall of acid. Mr. Rosea demanding that Julian do more things to bury the other half of his heritage. Julian fighting back against what he no doubt saw as unfair restrictions on his behavior and language. And Mrs. Rosea reaching out to them both separately, trying to defuse the issue on both sides. Failing.

Reading her pensiveness easily, the woman nodded. "Yes. It led to more than one shouting match between them. Another thing that _Anata_ greatly appreciates; the general rule that children should be respectful and obedient to their parents. Not that _that's_ something unique to our nation of course."

Automatically flashing back to the sight and sound of her own mother, Aiko frowned. "Children _should_ respect and honor their parents... Unless the parent doesn't respect them."

"I have told him as much", Mrs. Rosea agreed with a polite nod, reminding her that they were already deep into some very private territory for the Rosea family. "Unfortunately, nothing I say makes a difference in this. Without Gentaro, they have been far worse."

"Why does that make a difference?", Mira asked with genuine interest.

A look of warning passed from Mrs. Rosea's wizened eyes then, raising the question if perhaps they had finally gone to far. Family matters were exactly that; family. Mr. Rosea would naturally be upset that she had shared so much with two relative strangers already.

"Please forgive me, Mrs. Rosea", Mira blurted, bowing. "We didn't mean to pry."

"It's alright", she assured them, smiling sadly. "You are Sorano-san, yes? Jiachi spoke of you as well. I can tell that you two are only trying to find a way to save my son. Or rather, to cure him of whatever has happened to him during his disappearance."

"Yes", she confessed weakly, trying to hide the pain on her face with the tea mug. It physically hurt her heart to not be able to tell the full truth. "We're really worried about him, Mrs. Rosea."

" _Anata_ won't like it... But it feels good for me to be able to share all this with someone who cares", Mrs. Rosea returned, arms clasped in anxiety. "And it's nice to see that my Jiachi has such devoted friends at school. For a long time, he had none."

Sagging back, she laid the empty mug on her stomach, and Aiko drew back in shock. Mrs. Rosea had been lounging sedately in her chair for most of their talk, and for that time she had assumed the woman had been wearing a loose-fitting blue dress, and _that_ was the reason why she looked a fair bit rounder than she remembered from their previous visit. She'd assumed the woman to be merely emotionally exhausted.

The truth, or at least her best estimation of it, nearly made her fall over, her surprise impossible to hide. At least, not from Mrs. Rosea's perceptive eyes.

"Y-you...?"

One hand raised to stabilize the cup, the other rubbing the round belly beneath it, she regarded them both with the heaviness which had trapped her in her chair for hours on end, watching old movies of happier times. "Now, do you understand? I want my Jiachi to be a good, well-adjusted person. It doesn't matter to me if he is Jiachi or Julian, whether he speaks Japanese or English. I still love him, no matter what. What I _don't_ want- what I would share a few secrets with _anyone_ to prevent- is to have to some day explain the reason why he ran away from our home or why he denounced our family... to his brother."

* * *

5/23 Thursday

Lunch

The living Shadow of Julian Rosea didn't need to force a smile onto his face as he made his way out of grumpy Mr. Noriyama's classroom and into the 2nd floor hallway at Koashimizu academy. He had plenty of things to be happy about without forcing it.

Wherever he passed by, students stopped and stared. They pointed and talked to each other in hushed nervous tones. Even the most reserved teacher or staff member would pause for a moment and take note of him as he passed by, no doubt wondering what had happened to him during his absence that could change him so.

They were giving him everything that he had ever wanted.

The more they talked, the more they made their wild conjectures and theories, the better he felt. In his more reflective moments, he considered himself a rising star. A supernova of public attention, fed by the awe and curiosity of those around him and growing larger all the time. Even Benihime Kujou, the stuck-up queen bee herself, had to take notice of him now.

And why not? His own observations about the world around him had been drawn by his 'original' long ago, but he'd lacked the strength to ever truly embrace them and see the real truth for himself. His Shadow _knew_ the truth, and here it was demonstrated before his very eyes in hundreds of living, breathing examples...

That this school, this country, this entire damned _world_ , was dead, or nearly so. It lacked the spark of life that he held. From the moment that their children were brought into the world, their tamed parents set to work crushing the free spirit and ambition out of them, teaching them the ancient, outdated forms of courtesy that had no place anywhere except for the sterile, carefully-constructed environment called 'civilization'.

Nowhere was that fact more obvious than here, in an academy where so many adolescent girls and boys were put together and dull, boring, repetitive material was thrown at them by aging teachers, all but encouraging them to look to other places... such as each other.

But this so-called 'free society' had also done a fine job in setting its hooks in and extracting the pride and self-confidence of the majority of the students here, leaving them all too self-conscious to ever be fully open about what they really wanted from each other. When someone truly _free_ like him came along, he would inevitably stand out in a big way, and become the topic of conversation once again.

It felt absolutely fucking _amazing_. Electrifying sensation filling him from head to toe, as if every single tiny voice whispering about him was a jolt of caffeine, whether he was around to hear it or not.

There were still some minor annoyances, of course. It irritated him to no end that he couldn't help but dwell on them instead of being able to dedicate all of his focus to simply glorying in all the attention that he was getting, but there it was.

He could not have complete freedom just yet. He still had to at least pretend to be the weak, pathetic human they all knew, at least for another few days.

Whenever people called him 'Jiachi', threatening them produced better results than usual, but being unable to carry through on the threats rankled. He would have given so much to be able to simply bash their heads in with his strength, and then watch those bastards who dared to insult him bleed all over the floor while everyone else panicked and screamed like the pathetic, useless, worms that they were...

But no. No, that would not do at all. Not yet, at least. He had to stick to the plan for now, had to continue to pretend to be that insufferably meek little high school _hafu_ boy... _for now. Only for now._

Then, there was the other problem. The problem of _that girl_. Aiko Tsuruga, the one who knew his true nature. The one who had so charmed his 'other' with delusions of adequacy, and so of course had earned a place in the Shadow's mind as well. It was such a shame that she wasn't willing to play along, and was no doubt even now trying frantically to figure out how exactly to fight back against him. Trying in vain.

Why wouldn't she just give up? She'd been to both worlds, her and her little trio of idiots. She had to know it was impossible to stop him now, and yet she refused to yield.

When she was angry, when she was defiant... she reminded him of a common Shadow type from Faraway Lands, and one that he'd worked hard to keep out of _his_ Land. Those annoying, mischievous little winged Fairies that never knew when to leave something alone. She even had what the humans referred to as a 'pixie cut'. _Pretty, fair-haired, fiery little Tsuruga-chan..._

She would have to be his first conquest once he was truly free. A celebration of his victory. With his strength, far superior to any human's, it would be so easy for him to force her down to her knees and teach her proper respect for her earlier insults to him.

Seeing the frightened look in her eyes when he did that, watching her accept the inevitable and finally give in to him would be a triumph that was well worth waiting a few days for.

That other girl who had been with her, that Mirambela Sorano, wasn't even a factor. He'd seen the fear in her brown eyes earlier. Despite growing up in a less secure society, she remained a weak, useless worm pretending just for a moment to be strong for the sake of her pixie friend. He already knew that without Tsuruga backing her up, Sorano really was nothing but a whimpering little bitch.

Then there was the other one who had been stalking him, the one who dared call himself a 'genius'; short, brush-headed Shukiji Niyoga. The change in 'Julian Rosea' had not gone unknown by Koashimizu's so-called top student, and his cajoling attempts to learn the truth had been laughable. _For someone so smart, he knows absolutely nothing about the world beyond._

 _After I am free, I'll give him the enlightenment that he so craves._

Sadly, all of that wonderful enjoyment would have remain in his dreams for the time being. But not for much longer. _A few more days. A week, tops._ Then the tide at the Yume Bay would go out and return to normal, and his 'other' would be gone from this world. Forever.

Until then, he had to be patient and try to take pleasure in the smaller things in life, like the miasma of gossip swirling about him, and the teachers' blank, unknowing stares, and the outpouring of sympathy for a boy who ran away from home after a heartbreaking bereavement only to return.

There _was_ that damn annoying bird who kept following him around wherever he went, but it wasn't like it could actually stop him if he decided to have a little fun. Perhaps if he went to the city, found some blind alley where no one would see, he could lure the feather bag in close, and then...

Another arrival cut into his thoughts before he could construct a viable plan for dealing with the winged pest. The woman was young, but nowhere near a student's age, more likely a teacher's.

She seemed to be composed of as many different shades of blue on the spectrum as possible- stringy blue hair running down her wide, bony shoulders, a darker blue dress vest making her look even more adult, and crystal earrings a lighter shade. Even her eyes seemed to have a bit of blue in them as they zeroed in on him.

"Ah, there you are. You've caused quite a commotion, Mr. Rosea. I hope it was worth it."

 _What is this now?_ He didn't recognize this teacher. _Some municipal agent, maybe? Trying to learn the real truth about the disappearances, just like Niyoga?_

He knew better than to let any of this confusion show outwardly, however. His face kept the same confident, happy grin pasted on like it was his default expression. "Hey, I said I was sorry to everyone. My folks were okay with it, why can't you be? Sometimes a guy just to go and be free, y'know?"

Looking as rigid as Ms. Mattora, she regarded him without any of the awe he'd created in the student body. It annoyed him. She should know better than to annoy him.

"Jiachi Rosea", she observed clinically. "Son of Akusa and Hirata Rosea. You _are_ him, aren't you?"

He snickered. "Duh. Wow, they really must pay you a lot to make deductions like that. So who are you, then?" _Not that it matters in the end. By the end of the week, you'll be another 'tragic disappearance' for fucking with me._

The fancy-dressed woman seemed to have read his thoughts, and found them amusing. "My name is Cecille Yumika. I work as a teacher at Shiritsu Junior high, in the north end of the city. And yes, I am related to _that_ Yumika. So consider that carefully before you answer."

 _Pulling rank. Hilarious._ Maybe the 'other' Julian Rosea might have been scared by this and gone with her in submission, unreasonably frightened of their Principal's wrath. _Me? I'll do it for fun. I'll learn all I can so it'll be easier to find her later._

"Ooh, a fellow celebrity", he remarked with as much sarcasm as he could possibly inject into his voice. "Guess I'd better be careful then. Lead the way, ice lady."

The trip took longer than expected, Cecille leading him all the way out of the main school building and into an outdoor area full of tall grass closer to the cliffs. From here, you could see the colorful line of fishing ships that used the coast as a mooring point between trips, trying to avoid paying the high docking fees that the wharf charged, but at the risk of accidentally beaching their ship if they weren't careful and skilled.

 _From here, I could throw this dumb bitch into the sea and watch her drown... no, have to wait for now. Tsuruga pays first, then this one will. Have to remember to prioritize._

Checking one last time to make sure they were alone, Cecille returned her gaze to him. "You must have had quite a time of it, Mr. Rosea. With so many police searching for you, you must have gone on a trip out into the countryside of Kochi."

He shrugged easily. He hadn't bothered putting too much effort into a cover story, because aside from Tsuruga and Sorano, no one would ever guess the truth. "Hey, like I said, I just had to go and be free for a while. I suppose that's a crime now?"

"In this circumstance, yes, it is", Cecille advised him, cold as the sea's wind. "Truancy, for starters. I'm surprised that Principal Yumika even allowed you back at school after such a long absence. Maybe he took pity on you for some reason. He does that."

"Teachers", he grumbled, turning to face the sun, the seed of the portal which he had emerged from. "More like screechers. You just can't leave me alone, can you? Can't let a guy have his fun?"

She smiled sweetly at him. It was the sickening kind of sweet, the jaws of an unexpected sugar rush from trying out a new type of candy. "I might, if you were a 'guy'. But you're not, are you?"

His eyes flew open hearing that, wide enough that he could see just a trace of acrid yellow reflected back in hers. He'd suddenly gone cold, in dire need of a thicker sweater even in the sporadic heat of summer's advent. "You... you know?"

Cecille raised her eyes to the sky as if the answer were obvious. " _Shadow._ Yes, I know. Your eyes are kind of a giveaway. What I _don't_ know is how exactly how you got here, into our world. Care to share?"

He needed a moment to process that, but once he did he laughed once more, his confidence returning. _All worried over nothing._

"Heh. Sorry. Trade secret. While it's... _interesting_ to see just how many humans seem to know about our world, that doesn't mean shit if you can't do anything about it, right? Checkmate, ice lady."

Cecille didn't seem bothered by his attitude. She was focused on the rest of him, dark lips pursed in concentration. "You do seem a bit different from the Shadows that I remember, but I'll never forget the feel of that aura. I'd invite you back to your home so I can kick your ass myself, but I somehow doubt it'll be that easy to trick you into heading back where you came from."

Surprised for the second time in as many minutes, the Shadow sized her up again, looking for some kind of secret weapon to justify such boasting. _Nothing I can see. Maybe she really is just that confident. Such a refreshing change from all the spineless weaklings I've had to deal with in this world. If she wasn't so keen on messing with me, I think I'd like her._

"Heh. Gotta say, I like you better than your bro, lady", he leered back. "But I don't think you have _any_ idea of what I'm like back home. I'd tear you apart here as well, but I've got some business to finish first."

The woman blinked once in surprise, but then gave a predatory smile. "So it would mess up your plans, then, to be locked up in jail?"

Quickly as a light burning out, his previous fondness for her brazenness transformed back into blazing fury, and he scowled, trying to scare her off. "Bullshit. I'd just bust out in no time. You can't stop me."

"Probably", Cecille agreed sagely. "But then you'd blow your cover, wouldn't you? I'm not quite sure what's going on here, but I do know that you're deliberately pretending to be your true self in order to stop people searching for him."

That escalated the Shadow's scowl into barely-restrained rage, only her earlier threat preventing him from acting. "My 'true self'? I _am_ the true self, ice lady. I'm the very _best_ self!"

"Or at least, the most delusional self."

Fists clenching and unclenching with his standard dexterity, he glared back into resolutely frozen blue eyes, not comprehending. "Look... What the hell is wrong with you? You have a death wish or something, lady? Don't you realize that I could rip your head off right here?!"

"You could", she acknowledged, calmly stepping back. "But then you'd reveal yourself. It doesn't seem like a hard choice to me. All I want from you is information. If you refuse to talk... then I have a number of ways to make your stay here very difficult for you, _Shadow_."

Clench, unclench. Breathe. There was no point to hiding his rage, or the desire to forget the consequences and simply kill. _Just talk. It doesn't matter what she knows. No one will believe her, and she'll die screaming soon anyway. I'll make sure of it._

All the same, the act of admitting that she'd browbeaten him wasn't an easy thing. Not for this particular Shadow.

"Well? What's it going to be?"

"...What do you want to know?"

Gracious in triumph if nothing else, Cecille Yumika merely contented herself with a small, knowing smile. "Come with me. We can talk in some place more private than this. Some place indoors, where that annoying bird won't follow us."

The way the white saker falcon in question suddenly adjusted its slow glide across the campus area after hearing the woman's words confirmed what the Shadow had long suspected. Needing some kind of victory, he laughed mockingly at their would-be spy.

"Heh. So you noticed him too, eh? He's been bugging me ever since I got here, but he never gets close enough for me to get my hands on. Bastard."

"He won't bother you any more today", Cecille promised wryly, following his mocking gaze up at their unwanted guest. "We'll go to my apartment. It's nice and quiet there."

"Sounds good", he commented, already wondering if the home might just be quiet enough that one might be able to hide a dead body for a few days.

He would never get the chance to find out. Cecille had parked her car on a lot that was a fair distance away from the campus, and few other vehicles were sharing the space with her small Daihasu convertible- a pristine sky blue shade, naturally. Few cars, and no other humans visible... Except for one.

The young man waiting for them in the lot looked to be around Cecille's age and dressed just as conservatively in a dark green salaryman's outfit minus the tie, but judging from her reaction to seeing him it was easy even for the Shadow to tell that these two weren't allies.

The intruder's black hair had been styled into thin bangs running along the back of his head, each one of them dyed a different shade across the rainbow. More naturally-colored hair had begun to form a black fuzz on his chin and mouth area, and a metal earring shaped like a spiral hung from his left ear.

Julian had been considered a moderately handsome boy, and of course his Shadow had inherited his looks. This one looked to be a few steps above that, the grown-up version, and his bright, welcoming smile only seemed to accentuate it further as he leaned back against their car. "Hey there, Queen. It's been a long time."

The Shadow couldn't help but glory in seeing the woman who had inconvenienced him so much descend into her own quiet frustration at seeing the young human. _It also helps that he's starting to remind me of me. Of course he's still not as awesome as me, but I appreciate the effort._

"Ryuken Samesaji", Cecille grunted out, already sensing her one chance slipping away. "I left that idiotic code name behind me long ago, and I hoped you'd do the same. Don't tell me you're _still_ working for that old-"

"For Lady Scorpio, yeah", Samesaji nodded as if the matter were no consequence. "She told me that you'd try to interfere, try and take the Shadow before I could. It's a nice thing really, having someone like her to tip me off. If she hadn't, you might have gotten away with it."

"Hey now, I'm not anyone's trophy", Julian's Shadow piped up sourly.

"My apologies", Samesaji amended, giving him a slight bow and handing him a small gray card over Cecille's suddenly useless protests. Seeing him turn it over to try and decipher the message, he quickly elaborated: "It's not an interrogation like the one I'm sure that Queen Aquarius here was planning. It's an invitation."

"I already _told_ you, don't use those stupid code name-"

"Invitation?", the Shadow cut her off, his interest piqued after everything else he'd had to put up with today. "Heh. What kind of invitation?"

"From Lady Scorpio", Samesaji explained casually, as if it were a trivial thing to be discussed at some kind of social gathering. "And from me. To you, my Shadowy friend, for you to come... to _Karma_."

 _Built with strife and insight, but it's not enough_

 _I'll defeat and discreet your every move_

* * *

A/N: I would like to point again, for the record, that the thoughts and ideas expressed in this story do not necessarily reflect my own. This is _especially_ the case when it comes to Julian/Jiachi's Shadow!

Super long chapter for your enjoyment, and I hope some of the more M-rated scenes don't turn anyone off it.


	25. Change Your Way

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/24 Friday

After School

 _MN: I must say, I've missed this._

 _AS: rly?_

 _AS: I thought all adults hated instant messaging and texting and interwebs_

 _MS: be nice, Ai-chan._

 _MN: To clarify, I miss being able to communicate with my friends this way often as we did._

 _MN: It was as though the Phantom Thieves could meet anytime we wished, even if we were all scattered and occupied with other things._

 _AS: ..._

 _AS: ru sure that's okay?_

 _MN: It was never a problem then, though your concern is perfectly understandable._

 _AS: sry, but I don't feel completely safe talking about that here. Never know who might be listening._

 _MN: A friend of mine gave us a 'special' app to prevent someone from ever hacking my phone. I'll ask her to send it to you later._

 _MS: Thank you._

 _MN: no trouble. more importantly, have u decided on how you're going to deal with the current situation?_

 _AS: we have a chance. have to go tonight though._

 _MN: Good luck, and be careful. I've never encountered anything of that nature before._

* * *

The sun dawned on a brand new day.

Sheltering behind a large rock outcropping as though the sunlight itself were eavesdropping on them- and knowing the nature of this Land it very well could have been- Aiko Tsuruga stared into the waters of the ravine near Freedom city until she saw the spiral near the bottom start to spin.

"It's harder to see than I thought", she remarked as the spiral finally graduated into the spinning whirlpool that Mira had described to them earlier. For while, she'd feared that the 'Breach' phenomenon Pelagio mentioned had been a one-time occurrence, but here it was again.

 _And if I'd been awake for it, I would have been truly desperate to go in there._

Back in her Dancer outfit, Mira knelt down and nodded at the sight. "I didn't see it either at first. All I could think of then was washing all that awful poison off of you and Guardian. Then, the ravine started turning into a whirlpool, and..."

Trailing off, she shook her head, the golden eye mask failing to hide her anxiety as she folded her arms around herself protectively. "Well, for a while I thought we were dead, that I'd doomed us all."

"Far from it", Pelagio commented, returning from his patrol of the strange sepia-colored western town named 'Freedom City'. "Instead, you saved us from a painful demise. You alone you were able use your agility to avoid that serpent's vile poison and bring us to safety. A fact that I shall not soon forget, Dancer."

"Thanks, Guardian", Mira nodded back and smiling appreciatively. "Any luck?"

"Unfortunately, no", their armored friend admitted. If he felt any discomfort from the sun's heat baking his suit, he would never show it. "I have checked around, and the man named 'George' is not currently present in the town. Some of the cognitions here said that they saw him riding off to Oppressor's Gulch, though I would not put much faith in the tales of such-"

"That's fine, Guardian", Aiko cut him off. Normally she'd be fine putting up with Pelagio's tendency to be more verbose than usual, but something about their third visit to Julian's Land made her feel itchy, like they were being watched.

She supposed that had everything to do with the fact that while Pelagio had reported that the man who had identified himself as Ryuken Samesaji had taken Julian's Shadow in his car to the Karma nightclub in the city the day before, they had no idea how long he would remain there. There were too many blanks about the Karma club for her liking, too many things they didn't know for her to feel completely safe yet. All they really knew was that Karma's managers clearly knew about Shadows and the world they came from.

At the same time, they couldn't pass up a chance like this either. The Karma club could wait, but Julian couldn't. Every day his Shadow walked freely in the human world presented a new risk, a new chance for him to hurt someone.

Setting her hat tightly on her head and hoping it wouldn't fall off, Aiko beckoned to her team. "Well, surf's up. Ready to go?"

Mira withdrew a pace though, staring into the spiral of water. "Are you sure about this, Saber? I still think it makes more sense for us to steal more horses and ride the way we went last time."

Still wanting to hurry, her first instinct was to order that they enter the Breach quickly, but then clamped down on that impulse. _Come on now. You're not principal Yumika. You can stop to explain your reasons to the people you trust._

"I think this is the better option", she said patiently. "Sure, we'll have to walk once we get to the other side of the Breach, but we can still follow the train tracks. Also, Guardian said that they've upped the guards in the town. If we try taking a horse again, we might get caught and have to fight more Shadows before we even reach the gulch. This way is both faster and safer."

"Assuming there isn't much more to go past the Breach before we reach it", Mira argued. "I know this sounds crazy coming from me, but I'd rather fight a few Shadows than walk for hours through a desert."

"We'll be okay", Aiko promised her. "I don't think that snake attacking us when it did was just a coincidence. I think... That it was trying to keep us away from something. Some place they don't want us to visit."

Giving up and looking relieved to be able to do so, Mira nodded. "Alright, I understand. You are the _Kiongozi_. Lead the way, and we will follow."

Wading into the small pool felt a bit like coming home. All the previous outrage at Koashimizu's pool being unfinished and its beaches forbidden for safety laws were all washed away with the cool embrace of the water. The pull of the whirlpool was felt immediately and would have been alarming if her goal hadn't been to go into it.

Only once she was in the exact center of the spiral did it exert full force to pull her under. Alongside the expected pressure sensations, there was a brief jolt like a tiny underwater quake, and then she was raising her head back out of a completely different pool in the same Land, her hat sopping wet but still attached.

"Nice", she remarked once the others had followed her out. "About as painless as we could ask for. Did you get through okay, Guardian?" She was always acutely aware that Pelagio's heavy armor and broadsword limited his movement compared to the two girls.

"Hmph. It was a simple matter", he assured her once they were all out of the water. "As you have no doubt seen, I'm quite used to fighting Shadows like this, which demands mobility. Movement in water is no great task, though I do appreciate your concern, captain."

"Just don't transform by accident", she joked back. "Speaking of, that Leviathan Shadow who went after us on the way here seemed like it was in a rush. Any idea why?"

"Perhaps it was fleeing another, larger one", Pelagio offered uncertainly. "That is the ecosystem of Shadows, at least with the wild ones and the Leviathans. One Shadow devours another and grows larger and stronger. Fortunately for us, the strongest ones always gather around that dreadnaught vessel I mentioned to you before."

"A dreadnaught?", Mira asked in confusion.

"Another Land", Aiko explained, spreading her arms wide to indicate massive size. "A huge moving ship, way bigger than Guardian's transformation. Good thing we don't have to go there. Even if we could, the ruler of that place has been there for years. We'd never get them out."

"Ah."

Sure enough, the train tracks were still there, twin lines of gleaming steel stretching to either end of the horizon without any hint of their earlier warping. Regardless, the team kept their ears open for any hint of a train approaching. As Mira had predicted, the walk was hot, long, and boring, but after the disaster of their previous visit they had brought water bottles and other supplies for the journey.

Aiko figured it couldn't have been more than half an hour before they saw a cluster of rock spires in the distance that matched the description the locals had given to Pelagio.

"That's it then", she pointed ahead, her voice hoarse but far from defeated. "Oppressor's Gulch."

"And hopefully, the lead to Rosea-kun that we're looking for", Mira commented, already bracing herself for a climb up a rock face. Luckily, after an initial set of unreliable-looking stone steps, the path flattened out into a meandering trail that took them through the outer perimeter of rock and into the valley proper.

It was from there that the real structure could be seen. The canyon walls spread off into the distance in both ways, the center formed by a set of graduating cliffs meeting in a dusty-looking river bed. By kneeling and squinting down into that dirty water, she could just barely make out the sign of a spiral.

"That's handy", she noted with more enthusiasm. "We can book it if things get too intense here, and come back fast. Hopefully, we won't have to. We've taken way too long already."

"Don't rush it", Mira warned her from behind. "We're prepared, but we still have to be careful. We won't do Rosea-kun any good if we're dead."

"He's not my boyf-" Rising, she caught herself, realizing almost too late the words Mira had chosen to mask the true meaning of her concern with infliction. Palming her hat, she laughed. _Sensitive, are we? No surprise after what happened. "_ Trust me, I won't be holding anything back on him. I didn't with your Shadow, did I?"

"No", Mira agreed shyly. "To be honest, I was kind of scared of you during that fight. You and Guardian, together... but not as scared as I was of _her."_

"Shadows are scary", their leader pointed out simply, already scanning the valley for any sign of the being under discussion. "The first time that I saw one up close, I cried, I was so scared. I could watch a thousand horror movies- and please remember, I can't _stand_ horror movies- and it still wouldn't prepare me for what they're really like."

"So... I guess that means we can count you out when we let Guardian watch the Alien movies?"

"I'll go for a walk. Preferably not on the beach."

They both burst into laughter then. Laughter that Aiko was pleased to notice had a lot less anxiety in it than usual. _Whatever may come, we're prepared for it. We have to be. Nijima-san worked hard to give us this chance. We can't waste it. No matter what._

Distracted by these considerations, she didn't spot the source of a sudden focused impact striking her head until Pelagio pulled her aside. Quickly recovering from the hit, she stared across the massive gap in the valley in time to spot, of all things, a soccer ball falling down into the water below. "What the hell...?"

Gesturing ahead with a steel gauntlet, Pelagio carefully paced forward until another sphere struck his shield at high velocity and went the same way. Two more black and white projectiles smashed into him before he stepped back, allowing them to see the source of the trouble.

The canyon running through the heart of the gulch had been lined with massive rock spires, but until now she hadn't looked closely enough to notice that several of them also bore 'faces', three meter wide protrusions that puckered up into chubby cheeks and puckered lips. Each face was exactly the same; a near likeness of the chubby coach Kurikado, complete with the cap he always wore to practice sessions.

Not believing what she was seeing at first, Aiko grabbed a nearby pebble and threw it ahead of them. A single soccer ball flew out of the first statue's mouth, fast but not enough to catch the pebble. Instead it merely struck the wall before following the others down.

"Oh my gawd. You have got to be joking."

"Sir Rosea's Shadow is indeed known to occasionally make jokes, Saber", Pelagio acknowledged stoically. "But they are always mean-spirited jokes, t'would seem."

"Good one." Standing back up, she regarded the new obstacle carefully. "Any ideas on how we can get past that without getting pelted?"

"Hm. We could just run", Mira suggested, studying the craftsmanship of the statues with interest. "It's not like it's _that_ fast. Maybe we might get hit once on the way through, but that's it. Not so bad, really."

Aiko turned her gaze downward instead, trying to piece together the various bridges of both rock and wood spanning the chasm, rails running across the latter as they emerged from various mine shafts. _Looks like a big interconnected system, so we can definitely use those... but I think the longer we stay higher up, the better._

"Sounds like fun", she decided at last. "Here goes..."

By sprinting with all her might, she was able to clear the statue's range without being hit. Mira repeated the task with greater ease, while the less mobile Pelagio decided to merely block the shots with his shield.

Deciding not to say anything more about the nature of that particular obstacle, the group rounded a mesa and into a cavern barred by a more traditional one. Three men in cowboy hats and cloaks stood guard over the entrance, their badges and posturing making it obvious that they were Shadows.

Sensing Mira's apprehension after their previous encounters, Aiko stepped forward and made sure to put her savage grin at an angle where her friend could see it. "Oh good. Volunteers."

"Volunteers, captain?", Pelagio asked over the revolting noise of the Shadows screaming and transforming, not even bothering with their guns this time. One of the enemy bore the familiar shape of the voracious green-skinned ghouls they had fought in the saloon and elsewhere, but the other two were new sights.

The leftmost one took the form of a long-hooded phantom, riding atop a partly transparent horse, dark cloak flapping in the breeze as it raised a wicked-looking sword.

The last one looked to be compensating for its companion's drab lack of color, a chaotic mishmash of pink, green, red, yellow and blue adorning every inch of a thin, spindly body. The closest thing it had to a face was a pair of squiggly lines running along its head, red beneath yellow.

"Yes", she confirmed, not stopping her walk forward even as Pelagio become worried to the point that she could sense it. He was moving in as well now, but too late to stop her from making the first move, reaching up towards her hat to tilt its brim so it revealed her dangerous-looking eyes to the enemy. "Because equipment and supplies aren't the only things that we picked up for this trip. Come on... _Lorelei!"_

There was a burst of energy surpassing any of her previous mask, and then the Persona appeared in the air before them. A floating wraith woman with a wild mane of ghostly green hair and loose blue robes, invisible wind currents seemingly keeping her aloft by blowing into the robes. Eyes gleaming malicious yellow and red, the new arrival bore a harp with a thin, bone-white frame, and struck its chords even as the hooded rider began to howl and charge.

" _Mazan!"_

Just as they had with the mighty serpent days before, the green wind currents struck with a force rarely seen in the real world, tearing into all three Shadows and leaving only the slender rainbow creature unaffected. The blast had deflected the rider's momentum enough for her to dodge, and then Pelagio's broadsword tore into it, nearly separating rider and mount in one clean slice.

The rainbow creature spun its gangly limbs around ragdoll-style then, obviously focusing for some kind of spell, but Aiko merely changed targets and focused her mind once more. "Oh no you don't... _Makajam!"_

A bracketed ring of yellow light descended, locking itself around the enemy's slim form until its wild gyrations ended. Even without a face of any kind, it was easy for the team to sense the enemy's surprise that nothing had happened through its body language, though it only paused a moment before shrugging and joining the fight in a more direct fashion.

Staring at this display, Mira almost forgot to summon her own Persona, Oya. "How did you...?"

"Sealed its magic", Aiko explained briskly. "Watch out!"

The ghoul had now released its own attack, the mouth spray of blinding fog from the previous fight, this time too close up to evade. However, another cast of Mazan cleared the foul-smelling gas away, and prompted Mira to add her Mazio spell to the mix, the combination of lightning and wind washing over all three foes equally in a typhoon of destruction. When another slash from Pelagio failed to topple the rider, he shifted to a defensive plan, letting the thing chase him back along the mountain trail the way they had come.

"Lilim!", Aiko called, shifting back into an older mask while dodging the third Shadow's drill-like limbs. "If you won't zap, then maybe you'll burn... _Agi!"_

The fire she conjured seemed more effective, if not enough to destroy the enemy entirely. It looked ready to get back up and charge when four darts from Mira's gun blew it back even further, leaving it open to a fatal shock from the Zio spell. Sensing the shift in the battle's momentum, the ghoul actually fled deeper into the mine shaft, shrieking wordless outrage as it went.

"Well done, Saber!", Mira complimented her cheerily, her Persona healing what little wounds they had received in the fight without even being prompted. "I don't remember you recruiting those ones."

"That's because I didn't", their leader explained simply. "No time to explain right now. Honestly, I kind of wanted to make more of an impression with that one. Maybe beat 'em all at once without any help like the cartoon heroes do."

"Ah. Well, maybe next time we'll let you solo it", Mira giggled, then hushed herself as a new voice overtook her. It seemed to roll out of the cavern's darkness like the same blasts of wind Aiko had conjured, loud enough to drown out anything they tried to say, yet sounding so bitter and mournful that it was a long period before either of them recognized the voice as belonging to Julian Rosea.

" _I hate this place. Everyone's the same. Stupid language! Why can't we go live in grandpa's home country?"_

"Whoa", Aiko said after they were sure it was done. "That's new. Think we're getting close?"

Pelagio returned to them then, bearing no injuries and an uncharacteristic bounce in his step. "We will not have to worry about that Shadow any longer", he answered when asked. "He will be quite a while climbing up out of the valley, I am certain."

"Called it", Aiko remarked while peering deeper into the cavern. Luckily, the way ahead was dimly lit by a number of oil lamps mounted on a series of hooks along the walls. "We should try and fight the Shadows outside as much as we can. Chuck them off the cliffs, and I don't think they'll come back."

The Shadows infesting the gulch didn't seem to want to play along with that strategy. While occasionally a foolish one would try attacking them outside, the majority were content to wait within the caves and coal mine shafts in ambush positions, always attacking in varied groups. Several Mezukis made a return appearance, but far more threatening were the copies of the jailer Shadow from their first visit, which Aiko was always careful to burn down or seal the magic of first, preventing the use of Mudo.

Not that their brief sojourns outside were entirely hassle-free either. Several more statues of coach Kurikado blocked the way with endless streams of high-velocity soccer balls, and it wasn't difficult for any of the group to deduce that each one was spewing them at a faster rate than the last, the projectiles both more damaging and harder to run past.

By the time they reached the fourth such statue, Pelagio tested it with another rock and determined that this statue's rate of fire was not only impossible for even Mira to avoid, but would quickly cause them just as much harm as any Shadow's claws.

"I could use Praesi", he offered hopefully. "That would block the impacts long enough for us to make it through."

"Maybe", their leader considered, staring ahead to try and determine how far long the length of the gulch they really were. "But I can see several more of those ahead. You'd have to do that for every one of them. I don't know about you Guardian, but I'm starting to get tired out, and I _know_ using that spell takes a lot out of you. Don't try and convince me it doesn't. We need to conserve."

Mira tried the more direct approach, unleashing more lightning against the frozen stone face, followed by shots from her gun, but was disappointed when it showed no sign of damage. "Time to go down, then?"

The same wailing voice broke upon them then, billowing out from the mine shaft they had just exited as a wash of furious clashing noise.

" _I'm half and half. I'm a_ hafu _. That means I'm special. But no one respects me. They just want me to be like everyone else. Appreciate me! Look at me! I'm special! I have skills! I'm cool! Why won't anyone tell me that?! Tell me I'm cool! TELL ME!"_

Once more, no one was quite sure what to say about it. More demanding of their attention was the sounds of a fight somewhere beneath them. Peering down at a wide shelf of sun-coated rock, Aiko could see the bearded form of 'old man George' dressed up in a rumpled black vest and pants, and more importantly, surrounded by several Shadows in their human forms. While they didn't seem quite as aggressive towards him as they were towards her team, George didn't seem very happy about the situation either.

"Yep. Definitely time to go down", she agreed, leading the others into a short set of hops down onto each ledge until they were close enough to strike.

"Come on, grandpa", a tall Shadow who seemed to be the boss of this pack was ordering. "You don't belong here with the oppressors. Time for you to go back to Freedom city where it's safe."

"I'll go when I see my grandson, not before!", George replied angrily, about to push back the Shadow who was bringing handcuffs to him until he thought better of it. "Get those stinking things away, y'polecat! I want to see my grandson! I have to talk with him!"

"The sheriff is busy huntin' outlaws. He'll see you when he's good an- AGH!"

Aiko knew the bullet she sent crashing through the Shadow's broad shoulder wouldn't kill it, but it threw the others off enough that the surprise attack took down several of the weaker ones before they could transform and get organized. The leader took on a strange new form; a fanged skeleton with a menacing looking skull and jaw, bizarrely clad in a butler's outfit and carrying a large, three-headed candelabra, its triangle of flames already roaring with otherworldly power.

"Three guesses what he's going to be doing", she cracked as they hit the ground below, shifting back into the more fire-resistant Lilim Persona. Instead of her own fire however, she directed a sleeping _Dormina_ spell towards the other Shadows, knocking them out so they could be dealt with at a later time.

"Perhaps after this?", Pelagio offered. Mindful of their leader's need for them to conserve strength, he did not use another Praesi spell to guard himself against the butler skeleton's powerful flames, instead employing the less-taxing Rakukaja, the defensive enhancement blunting the pain instead of blocking it out completely. The lesser Shadows became his main target as well, the ones who weren't sleeping struck down by sword and nuclear detonations.

Seeing Mira moving to protect George, Aiko turned her attention back to the boss Shadow, once again briefly calling upon Lorelei's power to neutralize the greatest threat. "Okay, that's enough burninating out of you... _Makajam!"_

The yellow ring descended, stretching to fit the enemy's larger form... and suddenly shattered into pieces. "You idjit!", the horrendous animal skull crowed, still carrying the common accent of the Land. "My fire is too strong to be sealed! Taste my flames of burnin' justice! _Maragi!"_

The blaze blasted up out of the rock at all three of them, turning sand into glass and making Mira and Pelagio buckle... but the creature looked stunned when Aiko walked calmly through the flames, her Lilim Persona guarding against it. "You little shits don't know when to quit... _Tarunda_!"

The curse only affected her this time, but Aiko swore she could actually _feel_ the newfound weakness in her blade without needing to testing its edge out on the leader and see how just little damage it would do. Instead, she brought her pistol out, its slower shots still powerful enough to pose a threat from a distance. "Well? Come and get me, big guy!"

Drawn in by her taunting, the skeletal Shadow charged. Instead of fire, razor-sharp bone claws lashed out, quick enough to leave numerous scratches. They bled a familiar garish toxic purple even as she devoted her full attention to dodging. "Hurry up and clean their clocks, y'lazy dirtbags!", the Shadow screamed at its allies during the exchange, even managing to wake a few of them up. "Gotta do everything myself 'round here..."

"Maybe that's because you're not a great leader?", Aiko continue to tease casually as they dodged and weaved around, her sword still serving enough to block a few swings. "Even if I'm the strongest one on my team, I don't want Guardian and Dancer only having confidence in me alone. I need them to believe in their own power, too!"

"Idjit!", the skeleton repeated, scornfully raising his blazing candle. "I got my strength! That's all we need! Everybody else jus' needs to shut their damn yaps an' do what I tell 'em!"-

"Sorry... They're going to have problems doing that now."

Seeing Aiko suddenly dodge back away from his swipes, the Shadow paused, empty eye sockets flickering up to meet the impassive eyes of a Kurikado statue face. "Huh? What the hell are you- aw, DAGNABIT!"

The resulting assault of soccer balls went on far longer than any they had seen before. Dozens of the projectiles slammed into the Shadow over and over again, battering down its guard and pulverizing bone. They did _not_ bounce off, allowing Aiko to see that these particular balls weren't actually made of vulcanized rubber as they would be in reality, but some kind of material that was far heavier.

After over a dozen shots, the creature's guard was finally broken and it fell off the rock ledge, frantically howling curses all the way down until hitting the water, its three flames extinguished.

The rest of the fight was merely a cleanup after that. Awe at seeing the powers of their Personas on display gradually fading, George regarded them with grateful eyes, taking his pipe back out to light it before them. "Hey there. Thanks for the save, ladies. Much obliged."

"As _if_ we'd just let a friend get locked up by those jerks", Aiko pointed out, ignoring how strange it felt to refer to a cognition as a 'friend'. "Not that we're complaining, but... why'd you come all the way out here? We searched for you in the town."

Blinking through the dust the fight had kicked up, George coughed. "Sorry 'bout that. I got a mite worried 'bout the sheriff. He's my grandson, see, and he never stays out this long, even when he's huntin' for outlaws. Also, his top deputy's done gone disappeared on us."

The group exchanged a knowing look. "We'll be glad to help you find him, Mr. Rosea", Mira offered.

"Mighty fine of ya", he puffed. "I tell ya, the outlaws here are a nasty bunch, and now the sheriff's deputy wants to bring me in too? Horsehit."

That brought Mira up short, looking around at the lingering ashes of the Shadow's they had defeated. "Wait... huh? These are the sheriff's men. You're saying there are outlaws here too that attacked you?"

"'Course", George shrugged as if it were obvious. "This here's Oppressor's Gulch, where all the outlaws on the run for threatenin' the Sheriff's freedom head to and try to escape. The Sheriff's here, huntin' em down, and so are his men."

"Men of the law, and criminals", Pelagio suggested after a pause as they all tried to understand. "Both of them wearing the same masks of flesh, at war with each other without end."

Aiko sniffed. "All to fulfill a fantasy." It was hardly the most alarming thing they'd discovered in this Land, but it was alarming all the same. "You _did_ say that most of the Shadows here like to fight. Even if they fight each-"

The last word became an agonized bark and she knelt, suddenly numb, remembering too late about the purple scratches the butler Shadow had left behind. " _Poison_ ", Mira muttered, without the dread that had choked her words before. "Guardian, if you would..."

Not that her amazement was dulled at all by the sight. The idea that the medicine that Pelagio produced- the weak, over-the-counter antivenom that she and Aiko had purchased at a simple street corner pharmacy mere days ago in preparation for this- could cure even this kind of virulent poison was something that would take some getting used to.

Yet, the proof lay before her eyes. The instant the medicine was applied to the scrapes, the purple began to shrink inwards on itself before fading entirely, leaving behind nothing but a tingling feeling and unblemished, new-looking skin. Just the same as it had been in the handful of other times they had needed to apply it after one of the poisonous Shadows got too close. The skeleton butler Shadow, it seemed, had been another one of those.

"Still stings a bit", Aiko commented, warily reaching over to test her freshly-cured skin. "But a million times better than what happened last time we got poisoned."

"Human cognition is very strange", Pelagio acknowledged, grateful to have averted the injury before it could become serious. "Because the majority of humans believe that this medicine will work to cure the body of any type of venom, it shall indeed do so in this world as well."

Aiko chuckled lightly, rotating her afflicted arm to confirm its use, ignoring the stinging. "Right. Just like the anti-sleep stuff we bought restores energy. We could probably even use coffee for that. I've never had coffee though."

"I have", Mira looked worried. Not about the coffee, but certain symptoms associated with its overuse. "I know that this world's rules are different, but try not to use the anti-sleep stuff too much, okay? You're only supposed to take so much each night. If nothing else, we might have some trouble getting to sleep tonight."

"Oh. Business as usual then", Aiko replied briskly, pulling herself back up again. "At least for me. You seem to be sleeping alright these days."

Mira regarded her with sympathy. "Somehow, I'm not surprised. Don't worry, Saber. We should be able to banish your nightmares today."

The trials ahead were indeed worthy of guest spots in any human's nightmares, though Aiko didn't think any of them would be able to supplant Julian's Shadow for the number one spot there. Massive shrieking bats swooped down from the cavern ceilings, fangs ready to sink into flesh, only to be blasted apart by the team's guns. Great bull-headed creatures, their bodies rippling with light blue muscle, proved tougher. They struck hard with pole-mounted axes, just as resilient as Mezuki until they were struck by ice.

Smaller but most dangerous were the ebon-scaled cobras, false eyes upon their flaring hoods, hissing and rattling as they slithered out of the darkness of the caves, carrying the threat of further poison in their curved fangs.

"Yet you didn't hesitate at all", Aiko remarked as they left the most recent mine shaft behind, emerging onto a dusty mesa above the ravine. "Have you seen those at home, Dancer?"

"A few times", Mira admitted shyly. "The ones near my village aren't venomous at all, but they're _aggressive._ Bad tempered. And these ones weren't as bad as that big one from before."

"Indeed", Pelagio agreed with a forced note of enthusiasm, still trying to hide that having to use so many spells and fight so many Shadows was beginning to strain him, just as it was the others as they charged through battle after battle. "Fortunately, our enemy seems to only possess one Shadow of that type, and only one of that skeletal atrocity which Saber dispatched earlier."

Aiko hushed him swiftly. "Don't give them any ideas now, Guardian."

They all made sure to ignore the deranged howling that followed them out of the cave like a stiff wind: _"Society didn't reject me. I rejected society!"_

George shared in their exultation, once being so surprised by the sight of one of Aiko's Personas emerging that he dropped the pipe from his mouth. "Easy to tell that you folks are from some crazy place far away from here. Your shootin's pretty good too, if not quite as good as the sheriff or his deputy."

"Hey, I appreciate the praise, old man", a new voice called down to them from above, drawing four heads to crane around and stare up. "The key is constant practice."

Eight eyes beheld the sight on the ridge running along the top of the cave entrance, connecting to a narrow mountain pass. The speaker sat atop a midnight-black steed, twin revolvers in the holsters at his sides, a gleaming golden star on his vest and a grainy beige hat atop his head. It tilted down so that it masked his eyes from the sun and onlookers just as effectively as Aiko's wider-brimmed captain hat obscured hers.

Despite this, everyone knew who they were looking at. Two prisoners were securely roped up behind a bar tied onto the horse, and to her horror, Aiko also recognized the frightened faces of Akusa and Hirata Rosea, both clad in unkempt rags and smeared with dirt.

"It's been a long time", Aiko found her voice at last, blaming the dust and sun more than the shock. "Sheriff Julian."

* * *

5/24 Friday

Afternoon

The Shadow looked less jubilant than he had on the previous night as Ryuken Samesaji led the way into the main entrance of the Karma nightclub. A change that Ryuken suspected had everything to do with the fact that they were doing it in the afternoon instead of the night.

The club's main room stretched out for a long way past the foyer and entrance, thin screen walls acting to divide it into three separate 'wings', each one topped off with a jeweled chandelier. The center wing was the main attraction; there, the floor dropped away after several meters of black and white linoleum tiles to reveal a 'pit' only accessible by wrought-iron staircases at either end. The pit contained the main stage-slash-dance floor with all the tables set up on the main floor, but when the show started it could be raised up several meters above it, allowing all the guests to get a good look.

The main hall stretched off further beyond the pit where the dividing walls stopped past the bar area, fanning out into an atrium that managed to look much larger than it truly was from the further away due to some kind of optical illusion. Architecture wasn't Ryuken's forte. It was very the least of what made the club special to him.

While they wouldn't be open for another few hours, several of their staff were already hard at work preparing tables and meals, as well as tonight's main show... some of _his_ performers trying out for the first time. He doubted that the place would be completely packed- in a city the size of Tosashimizu that was difficult even if you let younger people in- but they would certainly get the money they needed to continue their current operations, and that was really all that was needed.

One of the senior staff politely greeted them at the coat check just outside the main hall. Like all the other staff present, she wore a simple white eye mask with one-way lenses obscuring sight of her eyes, along with the standard black and white dinner jacket and shirt combination, well-pressed pants stretching down to dark heeled shoes. What made her stand out from the others besides having longer and lighter-colored hair than most was the way that she spoke to him, immense respect evident in her tone as she bowed: "Ah. Welcome back, Prince Taurus. I have the item you requested last night."

Smiling back, he made a simple rolling gesture with his hand that the staff had learned was his non-verbal shorthand for an authorization to proceed. "Thank you very much, Natuya-san. We have some business to conclude before the show starts, and I'd hate for our guest to miss the beauty of our club a second time."

Natuya quickly brought them the items that were needed before they could step through the second door into the grand hall. The mask she brought to Ryuken was familiar and always would be to him; a more extensive face covering that protruded outwards into a firm snout and extended down to his nose. It bore the closest resemblance to a black-furred bull with the curving, spiraled white horns running up and around the sides of the mask, a pair of angry-looking eye frames surrounding the same one-way lenses as the others had.

The mask she provided for their 'special guest' was less detailed, as to be expected since it had only been created in one night by their costuming department. It had merely been a slight visual modification of a staffer's mask, but it was colored a scarlet orange and stylized so that several pieces of it trailed backwards away from the top half of the face at random angles, suggesting it to be a mask of fire. Still, it seemed to be enough to satisfy the Shadow's annoyingly insistent _need_ to be unique and stand apart from the standard rank and file.

"I still don't get why we need them", he complained as they stepped out into the grand hall's central wing. "Why do you make all your people wear these dorky masks anyway?"

"We have our reasons", Ryuken said, not completely sure just how much he wanted to reveal to a being that he wasn't sure was going to become an ally or an enemy yet. From what he'd seen so far, this Shadow was utterly typical of its type. It's only allegiance was to itself and its warped personal obsessions, and this one was particularly adamant about maintaining independence. "Firstly, to show our respect and honor to Lady Scorpio, our proprietor and hostess."

The Shadow scoffed aloud as they walked past the main pit. "And that's the other stupid thing about this place. I hate to agree with that ice lady, but come _on_. Lady Scorpio? And you're 'Prince Taurus'? Code names? More like code _lames_."

The careless words earned him an angry glower from one of the nearby staff, but either he didn't notice or care. Ryuken merely chuckled mirthfully to defuse the tension, a warm, easygoing noise that he'd practiced and refined until it could deflect the suspicions of nearly any young woman.

"Mm. I suppose it must feel very strange for a Shadow such as yourself for us to play a game like this. Try to understand. Before joining this club, we spent many years of our lives in the same dull, repetitive toil as other humans. For me at least, it's fun to be able to be someone else for a while."

Pointing a finger over to the right, he indicated another female server who was giving him a nod of the same respect Nayuta held for him. "Do you see that? No one outside of this nightclub respects Ryuken Samesaji much. But in here? Prince Taurus is the third most powerful and important person in the secluded world called 'Karma Club'."

"...We all want respect, I guess", the Shadow agreed grudgingly. "And I gotta say, you _do_ have the looks of a prince down pat. In we go?"

He referred to the door they had come to at the end of the 'optical illusion' part of the grand hallway. While composed of the same elegant wood carving as the rest of the doors, it was also marked with a golden spiral shape identical to Ryuken's earring. Passing through the doorway and a thicker wall of exposed brick, the two proceeded through another corridor and a wrought iron staircase before reaching their destination.

"This place used to be very different before Lady Scorpio took it over", Ryuken explained to the Shadow's bored-looking face. "But there's still a few architectural quirks left over from the original owners here and there. Me, I like a building with some character to it."

His guest grunted, saying nothing more as they continued on through the next area to the last door, another one marked with a spiral.

The new room was comparatively large for one that had once been designated as a fitting room, and the mirrors lining the walls top to bottom made it seem larger still, as well as a headache to stare anywhere except the back wall for any period of time. That one was a bookshelf and a bank of live video screens with a single chair, though others of the same type lay positioned along the elegant red carpeting.

The single figure in that chair had risen to meet them before they had even entered her quarters, regarding them with the same inscrutability as always. Ryuken had known Lady Scorpio for many years, and to this day she remained the biggest mystery of the club to him. She was always clad in a classical noblewoman's gown and corset, the thin cloth and leather covering every part of her body except her slender, pale hands that extruded from the hanging sleeves like ravens.

Her mask was even more distinctive, a smooth-cheeked geisha design covering the entire face all the way back to the front lobes of her ears. Just like the room, it was almost entirely composed of reflective material. The only hint of eyes and a mouth were small indentations in those areas matching the shape of eye sockets and soft lips. A large, prim bun of ash-black hair tied up in white ribbons behind her hair completed the effect of appearing to be a regal personage from another century entirely.

In all the years they had worked together, Ryuken had never once seen Scorpio remove it. Unlike him, the mirrored mask _was_ her true face, and if the woman beneath it ever had a normal human name, it had never once been uttered within the walls of the club. Not even if asked by him.

Her age remained somewhat of a mystery as well; her voice was normally a flat neutral in her dealings with him, not sounding like a crone or like a younger lady, but somewhere in-between that was impossible to pin down. What he did know was that more than one person had made the assumption that he worked for her because he was smitten with her beauty. An incorrect assumption, but entirely understandable.

"Prince Taurus", she greeted them formally. "You have brought the Shadow that I have seen in my dreams."

"I have." Even in a world where he held none of the respect for their founder that he did, something about her formal manner of speaking would have compelled fair reciprocation on his end. "He is the Shadow of the disappeared boy from Koashimizu academy, Jiachi Rosea."

" _Julian_ Rosea. Call me that name again and you'll regret it", their guest growled dangerously, making Ryuken breath an inner sigh of relief that they had finally reached the inner quarters of the club. In this place, in the secure heart of their building, even the Shadow's brazen threats had no ground at all.

 _He just doesn't know it yet._

Not caring, the Shadow tore his fire mask free, carelessly dropping it on the floor along the various arranged costuming props and tables before taking a seat, arms folded crossly. "You invited me. Here I am. Nice place y'got here, but I don't see any reason to stick around for the late show."

Lady Scorpio retook her own seat, passively examining the form of their guest in that typically spooky, indiscernible way that she did, voice gentle but also permitting no disobedience or foolishness from those she addressed. "We have a job offer for you, Shadow. Consider this to be an interview, of sorts."

The false Julian gave a mocking laugh. "A _job_? Seriously? _That's_ what you idiots brought me here for? What makes you think I need a job, or that you could give me one that I want?"

"Indeed. There are quite a number of unknowns for us both", she agreed slowly. "But let me begin by saying that we already have several other Shadows in our employ, so you will not be alone here."

Taking his own seat beside the Lady, Ryuken idly adjusted his horned mask as she continued. "You are, however, the first one we have seen with a human form, and the first to visit without our knowledge. Most curious. That is why we wanted to ask you some questions about your origin. How exactly _did_ you come to the human world?"

The Shadow seemed more intrigued by Scorpio's words now, glorying in his advantage of knowledge. "Heh. Checkmate. Like I told Tsuruga-chan, that's _my_ little secret. You can figure it out, right? You said that you've recruited Shadows?"

"We have", Scorpio confirmed. "From the dimension of Faraway Lands. That is where you come as well, yes? I sensed your arrival several days ago, and sent Prince Taurus to retrieve you."

"And that icy bitch tried to beat him to it", the Shadow noted, still nursing a grudge against Cecille Yumika, who had actually managed to threaten _him_ into not killing her as she deserved. "Guess I do owe you a bit for telling her where to stick it."

"Queen Aquarius was once one of us as well", Ryuken explained, sounding inevitably insulted. "She left us some time ago, though I believe she may return to us when she sees all we've achieved here."

The Shadow looked thoughtful for once. "Eh. I dunno 'bout that. She seemed to be pretty against you earlier... and not just 'cause your code names are stupid."

"That can wait", Scorpio told him. While she didn't share in Taurus' optimism that the young woman who had once proudly called herself Queen Aquarius would ever return to their ranks, she also didn't want her dead. Certainly not at this simpleminded brute's hands at least.

"What we have in mind for you, Shadow, is something far more pressing right now." Taking charge of the conversation over Scorpio, Ryuken stood and nodded to her. "Recently, there's been a quiet police investigation of our... private activities, let's call them."

The false human looked amused. "Heh. So you want me to go beat up some cops, right? Sounds fun!"

"Just one", he hastily corrected him, producing a small photo from his sleeve. Just like with Cecille, the Shadow was just as quick to jump to the most violent solution as its kin. "She's a junior officer who is currently visiting from Tokyo, and isn't yet aware of the arrangements we've made with some of the authorities in this city."

Studying the picture of the young woman with the chocolate brown hair and strangely red-tinted eyes, the Shadow smirked. "...She's pretty."

"Her name is Makoto Nijima", Ryuken said. "And she has allies. Someone we can't detect has been feeding her inside information about us for the last week or so. In fact, we've already had to cancel some of our special plans for tonight, just because our own sources have tipped us off that she is pushing to arrange for a surprise police raid on us soon, perhaps even today."

The Shadow gazed across the length of the former dressing room as if trying to find signs of the canceled plans in question, then those blazing yellow eyes returned to the photo. "A shame."

"You must not kill her", Lady Scorpio warned him harshly. "That would bring down even more unwanted scrutiny on us. Merely injure her, so that her investigation of us will be stalled until she is ordered to return home to Tokyo and continue her usual duties."

The more that they talked about the offer, the more the day waned, the more Ryuken began to get the sense that this Shadow was even less controllable than all the other ones he'd met. The restlessness in his poise, the way his eyes were constantly shifting about like a curious animal... If they let this one loose on poor officer Nijima, there was no telling what might happen in the end.

 _Secrecy is our asset. The rest of society doesn't know. They won't understand the truth._

"Maybe we should go back to our original plan", he suggested to her. "This one seems unreliable. We can have King Leo handle it."

Their rude guest burst out laughing. "'King Leo'? _Really_? There's _another_ one of you Karma freaks?"

Ignoring the mockery, Scorpio shook her masked head, indicating only disgust for the Shadow now. "No, Taurus. King Leo has been growing more and more unstable lately. I don't want to risk letting him out of the club again. I would consider him just as likely to accidentally kill the Nijima girl as this one."

"So talk to him. Get him to calm down."

The venerated hostess sighed in vexation. "My talents do not work on everyone, Taurus. Leo is far too strong for that. No, I think that this Shadow you've brought us should serve us nicely in this regard. Shadows, we know how to deal with."

Ripping up the photo of Nijima, the Shadow in question stood up. Picking up a stray ink marker, he began to twirl it around in his hand just as he had so many other similar objects before.

"Hey. I appreciate the offer, really. But... _nah_. Sorry, folks. Maybe you guys've dealt with Shadows before, but I bet that none of them were ever like me."

Thinking quickly, Ryuken moved to place himself between their guest and the door, regarding the creature's inhuman eyes closely. "Oh, really? And what makes you think that, 'Julian'?"

"Because there _are_ no other Shadows like me." Moving up to punching range, he spat into the older man's face, a revolting glob running down his skin.

"For a while there, you had me interested. I thought that I was working with some real big-time movers and shakers, like the Yakuza. But you two? You're just a couple of adults playing dress-up for fun. I don't even have to meet this 'King Leo' idiot to know that. You're in _way_ over your heads here. In fact, for wasting my time like this, I think I'll enjoy myself a little more before I-"

He could say no more before Ryuken took a deep breath, drawing all noise into silence. His eyes were shut as he reached up to the porcelain horned mask. The last of his patience felt like it had bled out through the eyeholes.

The time for patience was over.

 _"Mighty Mithras, together we shall conquer."_

There was no point in registering the Shadow's note of surprise, or Scorpio's sense of satisfaction at the sudden blast of power that left a hairline crack in one of the mirrors. He ignored all other sensation. He whirled, his broad fist impacting chest flesh. In the very next instant, the Shadow was sent flying over to sprawl against the room's sole bookshelf and covered with its contents, dazed and worse.

Cursing at nothing, he tried to stand again... Only for a second strike to blast him backwards and damage the bookshelf even further. Ryuken- Prince Taurus- loomed over him like a rampaging giant, casually examining his own fist for signs of blood stains or other damage.

 _I must say, I've missed this._

"My sincerest apologies, my lady... I've been wanting to do that for a long while now."

Scorpio seemed content enough with the result, shrugging innocently and unperturbed by the sudden violence. "Do what you must, Prince Taurus. I know that I have trained you well."

"Yeah", he saw his smile reflected back in the motionless mirror mask. "You have."

As the two watched, the Shadow eventually managed to recover enough to make sounds again, if not exactly stand up properly. "Wha... whazzah... what was...?"

Ryuken sighed melodramatically, as if his victim were the greatest of idiots. Which, in his humble opinion, wasn't really that far off the mark.

"I trust an idiot like you at least knows what a Persona is? The opposite force of a Shadow? My 'other self'?"

"Wha... _Persona_...? You can't...!"

Another hit, this time a kick that sent his target smashing into a wall and this time shattered a mirror even as it busted his jaw. A human would have been dead several times over by now, but Shadows took much more punishment than that.

Of course, that's what made it good for him. The Shadow before him was not human, and was not protected by the laws that protected humans. If he broke the Shadow's fingers, or crushed his skull, or caved his ribs in, or hit him in the gut so hard he would cough up dark blood... Then too bad.

Doing this to Shadows always helped him take the edge off.

"Funny thing about Personas. They enhance the speed, the strength, and the durability of the human who summons them forth from their heart. The stronger the Persona is, the bigger the boost you get. Remember, Shadow? Remember how I told you that I was the third-ranked man here?"

"B-but... you... you c-can't... you _do_ that!" The Shadow was practically blubbering now, the fear for his own existence outweighing his anger and arrogance for the first time ever since he had come into being. Even Shadows felt pain, and this one was now in more than enough of it that he could do little except cringe away from the man. "We're not even in... Faraway..."

"We have our ways. As you do." Normally the more reserved of the two, even Lady Scorpio seemed satisfied to see their guest painfully taught his errors. "Ways that we would be willing to share with you, _if_ you are willing to behave yourself, and do all that we ask of you."

"Y-you... bastards...!" Despite his biting words, the fear had truly taken hold of their guest now, and he made no move to counterattack either of them.

" _Pathetic",_ Ryuken remarked, sincerely enjoying the sight of the brief conflict between the creature's fragile little ego and his self-preservation, triggered by that single blunt insult.

Even with King Leo's current issues, he would much rather work with a real human operative than this whimpering excuse for a Shadow _. This_ narcissistic thug, who hadn't even noticed the slight change in the building's atmospheric pressure when they had stepped into the club's inner quarters...

That had to be why he was feeling so melancholy, why he was missing Queen Aquarius' presence so much right now. _Back when it was the four of us as a team, I knew that we could do anything if we worked together... but now we're shorthanded. We have to resort to using disgusting Shadow trash as minions, and they're never as reliable as a good Persona-user is._

His target actually was spitting up blood on the carpet now, studying not only him but Lady Scorpio as well with renewed terror, yellow irises enlarged and his self-confidence flown away on the wind. The way he was squinting at the air behind Taurus leaving no doubt that he'd finally spotted the distinctive horned shape of the Persona floating just behind him, augmenting his strength beyond anything he'd ever known as a mere human- as Ryuken Samesaji.

"You... her... just what the fuck _are_ you people!?"

Scorpio stood up with her sleeved arms folded around each other, a dark pride in her words and the slant of her own mask.

"You should have read your invitation card more closely, _Shadow_. We are Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius and Leo. We are the Masked Circle of the Karma club. And we are the ones who will bring humanity its long-sought Salvation."

Ryuken grinned tightly beside her, the power of Mithras surging even through the muscles he used to smile, making the expression look vicious. "A bit much? Sorry, we rarely ever get the chance to boast. If we told too many people, some of them might actually start to believe it."

Until he'd seen the truth for himself, he too had considered such a goal to be mere fantasy. But now... _now_ he was not only part of the plan to save humanity from its looming fate, but one of the plan's most important leaders. _My parents, if they understood... if Kotone understood, they would be very proud of me._

Someday he would tell her, and then she would understand why it was that he had to be Prince Taurus right now.

* * *

No one reached for their gun.

That was a massive relief to everyone involved, and Aiko could only shiver at the brief jolt of reflex, no doubt induced by hours spent fighting through caves full of Shadows, that had moved her hand down towards her holster when she had heard the voice calling out to her.

More luckily, Julian was just as welcoming to them as Mira had been when she and Pelagio had first managed to breach the massive tower of technology that comprised the heart of her Land. While he did not release his captives, he was fine with them all traveling out of the gulch to a safer area before taking positions around an unlit campfire that the 'outlaws' had apparently been using as a rendezvous point, surrounded with heavy logs.

That was the easy part.

"They're criminals, Tsuruga-chan", Julian explained when the necessary pleasantries were done and matter of captives and the wanted posters was finally brought up. The fire wasn't lit, but it still served its purpose as a useful distraction for the eyes when it hurt too much to look into someone else's. "Getting what they deserve. Which is a lot more than what they'll ever get back in the other world."

The captives themselves seemed to frightened to talk back to him. That was fine, since Aiko had a lot she wanted to say, and not enough air to get it all out in one go.

"They're your _parents_ , Julian-kun", she said strictly. "Well, actually they're cognitions of your parents. But I still can't believe you actually think of them that way."

He hawked up some spit to fire in their direction, accurate as always. "You don't know. You don't them like I do."

"But we do know them", Mira countered firmly from her seat opposite him. "And yes, we _know_ that things have been difficult with your dad. We know that he forced you to change your name. That he made you hide your heritage, and speak, read and write only one language, and a lot of other things that aren't so nice... But _he's still your dad!_ "

"He is only just trying to keep you safe", Aiko continued. "He's overreacting to JCAP, that's all. Can you blame him for being scared for you?"

Julian's square jaw clenched in anger and he rose up from his seat, suddenly reminding Aiko that this was the same athletic body that had effortlessly pinned her a few days ago.

"I blame him for a hell of a lot more than that", he rasped dryly. "It was _his_ choice to go with that. His _choice_ to move to Japan. My mom said she didn't even want to go if I didn't want to... But _he_ did. And her?" He gestured to the cognition of Hirata Rosea accusingly. "She just went along with it. Just like she always goes along with everything that asshole says!"

"Because she _loves_ him", Mira emphasized patiently. "When you love someone, you respect them. You keep their desires in mind."

"Interesting definition." Sitting back down, he glared across the empty space. "It sounds more like slavery to me. And I sure as hell never saw _him_ ever do the same for her. Or me. If that's really what 'love' is, screw it!"

Taken aback by the bitterness in his tone, Aiko fell silent. She was even more surprised to hear old man George speaking next, ambling over to the other side of Julian and removing the pipe from his cracked mouth.

"Sheriff... You gotta know that these young'uns are just tryin' to help you. Maybe things ain't so great back home right now, but if there's people wanting you back, can you really just abandon 'em? Seems a mite yellow to me."

Aiko relaxed a bit over this statement, the aged cognition's voice suddenly sounding more passionate than she had ever heard before. _Just like with Mira. There's someone here who was very close to him, and even here in this place, their message can't be shut out of his mind._

"This is my home now", Julian argued stonily. "This is the home I always wanted, where I can be completely free."

George gave a throaty cackle at that turn of phrase. "'Free'? Son, you don't have a clue what 'freedom' even is. Just like you don't have a clue what the real America is like. Those stories I told you about the free plains of the west? They happened centuries ago, and a mite bit different from how you think they were too!"

Julian's brown eyes went wide and blank at this news, his breath escaping in a faded hiss. "But gramps, the stories you told me-"

"I kept telling 'em", George said, "because you liked 'em. Didn't ya?"

Julian nodded numbly. "I did."

"'Course ya did. And I liked seeing my grandson happy to spend time with me. More time than my own son ever did, that's for sure. If I'd known that they would make you resent Adam and Hirata the way you do now..." He shook his head in regret.

A loud clatter pierced the static of the desert as Julian rose up and kicked the pile of charred wood which had once been a campfire. Becoming unreadable for a moment, he turned around and offered the cognition a tight smile.

"It doesn't matter. What happened, happened. Isn't that what you always told me? You can't unring the bell."

"Your gums're flappin' out truth", George acknowledged somberly. "Maybe for the first time since you got here."

"Yeah? Well, here's some more truth for you." He began to pace around the circle then, so that each of them could see the fresh resolve in his face.

"You're wrong, gramps. The home you told me about does exist. It exists _here_. Here, where I'm the boss. The sheriff. The only way to really be free is to be the boss, and here I am."

He stopped at Aiko, momentarily thrown by the horribly sad look on her face.

"Yeah", she echoed. "Here you are. The sheriff. The big bad boss of a place where you're the only real being there. Where everything else is just there to stoke your ego and tell you cool you are. Even me."

His face froze up, his earlier apprehension momentarily forgotten now that he could acutely sense hers.

"It's no secret, Tsuruga-chan. I never wanted it to be. Forget anything that bitch Kujou says. You're perfect. I wanted you."

"No. You didn't want me", she said coldly, temper only rising further. "You wanted that cognition in the saloon back at your 'Freedom City'. Someone who looks like me and sounds like me, but that... _thing_ isn't me. And... I don't think you really want it to be, either."

He couldn't face her. Even the empty fire held no solace now. Instead, he found himself looking at Pelagio and Mira's concerned eyes. They weren't much better.

"We came to help you, _boy_ ", Pelagio spoke up for the first time, just as disdainful as Aiko had become. "By my lady's command, we have _all_ risked life and limb many times to allow you to leave this false world behind. All that we ask in return is that you have the courage to seize the chance we've created for you."

"I know what it's like, Rosea-kun", Mira implored. "I went through the exact same thing. I _know_ what it is you're really struggling with right now. Why it is you're acting this way."

"Mi- Dancer?", Aiko turned back. She'd expected her own tears, but not from Mira, who had only met Julian a handful of times before now. "What are you talking about?"

"It's not just what's here that's keeping you", Mira emphasized, refusing to let him cast her objections away as he had the others. "It's what's waiting for you back home. Back in your _real_ home. Because, if you go back there... Then you'll have to do the hardest thing in the world. Something harder than beating up a hundred Shadows."

Julian looked back, not quite comprehending. Not wanting to comprehend the meaning.

"Listen to her well, boy", Pelagio ordered him, raptor eyes flashing with more than a hint of threat. Mira flashed him a grateful smile before continuing.

"The hardest thing in the entire world", she said, eyes wide, "Is to go back, and ask for forgiveness. To admit to the _people you love_ that you were wrong. That's why. That's why you're trying so hard to make us- to make everyone- give up on you. Trying to make us think that you're really the kind of disgusting person who would prefer that cognitive version of Ai-chan over a real, living person."

The dust was all he could stand to look at now, his hat dipping down across his gaze to shroud it in shadow, only his lips visibly moving.

"What would you say if I _am_ disgusting? If I really was that kind of person you're talking about? If I told you that I'm happy with what I have here? That this is the home I want?"

Shuddering at the concept that she was no longer sure wasn't complete fantasy, Mira abstained from answering even as Aiko rose behind him, her own resolve bringing the light of hope back into eyes that had moments ago been clouded with personal outrage. Leaving that behind wasn't only necessary. It was welcome.

"I'd call it horseshit. Because such a greedy, selfish person wouldn't have offered to help us the way you did." Palming her own hat- upwards instead of down- she shook her head dismissively. "No matter how much you try and make me hate you, Julian-kun, you can't. You're nowhere close. Someone who was like the person you're describing? They wouldn't even care about their own brother."

"You don't understand", Julian shot back, his voice a broken whisper on the sands. "Deep down, I'm really nothing more than a-"

Then the last word finally registered with him, her tone finally conveying what she'd been waiting to say all along. One revolver, no longer suspended in his hide-gloved grip as it slackened, fell down to kick up a dust cloud. His eyes quite suddenly wider than Mira's had been.

"Wait... What? _What did you just say...?"_

 _Forget how it was_

 _Think how it could be_

* * *

Enemy Profile #7

Bifrons

Arcana : Devil

Strength : Fire (Absorb), Curse

Weakness : Light

Abilities : Maragi, Tarunda, Venom Claw, Charge

Background:

The 46th spirit of the Goetia and an Earl of Hell. At the command of his summoner, he will move a buried body to another location, or light candles upon the graves of the deceased that he has control over. Leads 26 legions of infernal spirits.

Also known as Janus, the Roman two-headed and dual-natured god of gateways and new beginnings.

* * *

A/N: Not much to add here except I feel like I made too many obscure references. Oh well, the big one with Persona 2's Masked Circle is completely intentional, along with the reference to a certain other dangerous supernatural group in the main series...


	26. The Gunslinger

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/24 Friday

Afternoon

The next few minutes were strange.

Aiko had thought that would be a given in a dream world created by someone's subconscious mind, but there was no other phrase she could think of that fit it as well.

Strange.

It would have felt like a betrayal to call it 'uncomfortable', since this was exactly what they had been working towards for days. Grasping the meaning of her earlier words without the need for any further clarification of the issue, Julian Rosea had withdrawn to his seat on the campfire log.

The cognition of his grandfather remained at his side, quietly speaking words that were meant for the two of them and no one else. There was no further need for Aiko, Mirambela and Pelagio to do anything else for the time being.

There had been nothing around to sharpen her sword on. Testing out the powers of her other new Personas would not only waste energy she knew they would need later on but feel insensitive considering what her friend was going through mere meters away from her. After all the action they had seen today, the hardest thing now was to sit still and do nothing.

So she talked instead. Quietly, as George was doing. "Good catch", she congratulated Mira from a new perch, one of rock. "How'd you know?"

Seeing that Pelagio was actually interested in her answer as well, Mira shrugged in defeat. "Because it's true. I knew back then, if I chose to come back to the real world, I'd have to apologize and make it up to a lot of people there. I knew that some of them probably wouldn't accept that apology. And I knew that for Julian-kun, whose parents live so close by... It would be worse."

"That's what he was really running away from", she realized. "You must understand him better than I do, now."

Mira's footwraps kicked up some sand as if she'd been insulted. "I wouldn't go that far, Saber. Look around you. Our minds are as different as our Lands. But we're both human. Both the same age. Still, it didn't completely click for me until you showed me his last text to you."

Instinct had her arm halfway down to her pocket before she remembered that she had left her phone behind. There was no point it bringing it to a world where it didn't work.

The memory was still there, of course. "'I'm not the man you deserve'", Mira quoted. "He was just like I was, back then. If being afraid to return to the real world and make amends is cowardly, then he was ready to consider himself a coward. He was going to a world where none of that mattered."

"This is starting to make my head hurt", Aiko confessed, jerking a gloved finger back at the man in question. "I think it still matters to him though. Even if everyone in this place always told him that he wasn't, he'd still know the truth."

If the sun over their heads was moving, it was barely perceptible. It was impossible to tell how much time passed until Julian suddenly raised up his revolver once more, taking a fitful breath as he aimed at nothing before rapidly shifting his sights across Pelagio, then Mira and Aiko, past a frightened old man George...

The _BANG_ was even louder than usual out in the desert without anything to buffer the noise. When everyone was done flinching away from the pain in their ears, they saw that he had shot the rope holding his captives. While the cognition with Akusa's face wasted little time in escaping, the one of Hirata took time to give Julian a long, slow nod before following after.

"Damn it", he whispered into the breeze, his voice bled of the anger usually associated with such words, and likewise for his repetition. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, _damn it._..!"

His next shot went straight down into the sand, leaving behind a geyser of disturbed earth that failed to draw everyone's attention away from his face. It was a different face, changed in some imperceptible way from the Sheriff they'd met mere hours before. The shots continued to rock the area, continued to create sprays of dust until his barrel clicked empty.

"Well", he managed finally, regaining some of his composure after the prior collapse but still looking limp and ragged. "We sure can't have this. If that kid is raised up by my old man without me, he'll end up as nothing but a mindless drone. _Somebody_ has to be there to teach him the concept of 'fun' and 'free will'."

Carefully reloading and holstering his weapon, he turned back to the old man, pulling his hat back down to hide his tears. "And without you around, that's gonna have to be me. Even if I _am_ an asshole."

The elderly cognition of a dead man would not cry. His own sorrow was evident enough in his reply, sounding too genuine to have been produced by anything other than the heart of a real human being. "'Fraid that's just how it is, son. That's life. Lordy knows I'll miss ya. But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

The two of them hugged tightly, Julian wrapping his powerful arms around George's dusty black dress coat. Pelagio looked like he was going to say something about the cognition not being Julian's real grandfather until Mira elbowed him hard in the chest.

When they were done, Julian finally acknowledged the others around him again, as though grief had temporarily blinded him to the existence of anyone else except him and George, and only now were those blinders falling off.

"So. I guess there's no way for me to say this without sounding stupid", he said anxiously. "Believe me, I just tried about thirty different ways to do it in my head, each one lamer than the last. Guess I don't have much of a way with words. Whatever. Here goes... I'm really sorry for being an asshole."

Aiko blinked in surprise, as if noticing for the first time that these words were mainly directed at her, and unable to think of a response in time before he spoke again.

"What? I was.", Julian said it plainly, as if stating an incontestable fact. Like he was saying the sun was hot or fish swam. "Even before I met you, Tsuruga-chan. You know what the number one thing going through my head was pretty much the whole time I've been at Koashimizu academy?"

"Resenting your father?", Mira guessed. "The freedom to leave Japan?"

Julian laughed for the first time in weeks. "Hey, good guess. Nothing so noble, Sorano-san. No, the number one thing on my mind was being 'cool'. Practicing my moves so I could look 'cool'. Going over my words in my head so I would sound 'cool'. Watching my movie collection so I would know what 'cool' was. It was like my whole life was devoted to impressing other people, so that they would notice me. So that they would see me as a 'special' person."

Making sure to chuckle lightly at his joke so that he wouldn't think their friendship was completely buried just yet, Aiko nodded back at him somberly. "I understand. Really, I do. But remember that Benihime Kujou is 'special' too. So was Masayoshi Shido. Being someone 'special', or 'cool'... doesn't always mean you're a good person."

A different, shorter bark of a laugh this time. One far more melancholy. "I told you already, I'm _not_ a good person. I'm an asshole."

"And that", Mira told him firmly. "Is your first step towards changing that. _You_ have the power to change, Rosea-kun. When I woke up... I knew that I had to change some things. I knew that I didn't want to be the person I was being any more."

"We are who we choose to be, boy", George offered amiably. "I won't say it'll be easy for ya. Nothin' like this ever is."

Julian snorted, nostrils flaring. "Of course not. I've got like sixteen years of asshole training to un-learn now." Shaking his head to clear away the sweat, he stopped and put two fingers to his mouth, letting loose a short, sharp whistle that somehow echoed across the plains for miles.

"First things first though. We gotta get out of this dump, right?"

Aiko bit back a curse hearing that. In all of their careful planning, they hadn't considered how long it would take them to get back to the Breach, never mind finding it again.

 _Maybe if one of us takes Julian's horse back to Freedom city, they can pick up some others and ride back with them. Then ride out to the Breach and then-_

The piercing wail of a horn cut into those rapid thoughts, jarring her back to reality and the sight to go with the sound.

As the five of them watched, a pair of solid steel rail lines were extending themselves along the sand next to the forgotten campfire. They wound around rocks and mesas and rivers, but anything else that got in their way simply vanished, until the tracks had been laid down all the way into the horizon. A series of dusty wooden ties followed, materializing out of nothing to support the rails above them.

The source of the horn appeared then, moving just as fast as the rail line bearing it had been. The train pulling up to their campfire looked bulkier and shorter than the last one they had seen, but she felt a chill at the sight of it all the same.

Sensing that chill, Julian tried to give her a cocky smile like the kind that had once been his standard expression. "Hey hey, don't worry. It's just like you said. This world is a dream that bends to my will. It's a much nicer ride than going on horses, right?"

"Just as long as you're sure it's not a giant snake in disguise", Mira pointed out.

Julian boggled for a moment at that, hsi hat drooping down. "Whoa, seriously? Geez! No wonder you were upset. Sorry about that, Sorano-san."

"That's fine", she smiled back nervously. "It wasn't your intention. Oh, and I am the Dancer while we're in this world, got it?"

Sizing up her colorful outfit without lingering too long on any particular part, Julian palmed his chin, genuine boyish excitement on his features now. "Dancer, huh? And who's the grumpy bird dude?"

"Hmph!" The avian knight sounded extra stiff for some reason. "I am sir Pelagio to you, _boy._ In this place however, I am known by my comrades as the Guardian."

"Saber", Aiko offered without being asked, tapping the bronze handle of her cutlass for emphasis. "And for some reason, Dancer and Guardian think that I'm qualified to lead them."

As the door to the passenger car swung open, Julian chuckled, rolled his eyes at her- another gesture that he hadn't done since the day that George Rosea had lost his life.

"Yeah, that's quite the puzzler alright. All aboard!"

 _Excellent_ , Aiko felt a pang of relief at the sight of everyone walking up the stairway and into the spacious comforts of the train's passenger car.

 _Now the easy part is out of the way._

* * *

5/24 Friday

Afternoon

The next few minutes were quiet.

Prince Taurus preferred it that way. While he couldn't deny it had been a rare treat to watch the Shadow violently squirm before them, the creature's misplaced arrogance clearly battering against his new-found terror of the Persona-user who had wiped the floor with him in four strikes, after the initial moments of panic there honestly wasn't much that he hadn't seen already.

They were all the same, Shadows. Always so eager to prey on hapless humans with the misfortune to stumble into their realm, no matter what part of it or what form it might take. With their inborn pack mentality, they inevitably rallied around the strongest of their number, the ones who lay at the heart of cognitive distortions. Leaders which would be only too happy to assign roles and matching disguises to their new minions.

But whether they were leaders or minions, whether they were strong or weak, they inevitably folded like wet cardboard, pleading for their lives when they were faced with a Persona-user that exceeded their own strength. Mithras, the horned apparition who still hovered beside him now waiting eagerly for this particular Shadow to make another stupid move, had protected him for several years now. His faithful partner, whose power had grown together with Ryuken's own until no Shadow could threaten them any longer.

 _Well,_ he hastily amended, _not quite true._ There were still a few he knew of which he might hesitate to take on alone. The ones that the Karma club had taken in however, had no real spine to them, and he could sense Mithras' strong distaste for such craven behavior. He understood. He felt the same way as his 'other self'.

 _They are worthless trash, their value only as fodder. But for now, we have no other choice but to use them._

He moved back slightly and Mithras followed suit, giving the creature some room to stand up and recover. If he tried attacking them again, he wouldn't live to regret it.

"Salvation?", the terrified Shadow whispered, still not comprehending Lady Scorpio's earlier words to him. "What the hell are you- AAAGH!"

Without warning he fell, madly clutching at his head as if it had been infiltrated by live drills, his body curled up in feral pain.

"Taurus?", Scorpio asked in concern.

"It's not me! I didn't hit him again!", he protested mock-innocently, not quite sure what was going on now. They could only wait and see, listening closed as the Shadow became a fetal ball of raw agony, thrashing around in abandon until he managed to speak properly again.

"No... no way! His heart is starting to change... NO! It can't be! Those bitches! I'll... _I'll tear them apart!"_

Ryuken raised his hand and Mithras followed suit, ready to prevent a sudden attack... but the piercing yellow light that suddenly engulfed their rude guest did not seem directly harmful. It merely expanded out into a sphere, brightening more and more until the Shadow could no longer be seen.

When the sphere was gone, so was the Shadow it had hidden.

Lady Scorpio didn't seem thrown by the dramatic exit, being the first to speak again. "...Unexpected. I wonder if it would have been able to do that outside of the club?"

Taurus shrugged, more annoyed by the development than anything. If the hostess wasn't going to make fuss, neither would he. "A waste of our time. Shadow trash."

"That one was certainly too unstable to suit our current needs", her muffled voice agreed. "What interests me more is what caused him to return home in such a hurry."

* * *

They felt the danger approaching long before hearing it. It was something in the wind, something that couldn't be explained to someone who had never visited Faraway Lands before.

Just as Pelagio had sensed the Reaper's approach, now Aiko's own danger senses had become attuned to the shifts and moods and flows of this other world, and right now, they were all lit up like a holiday fireworks display.

They had talked for a while on the train ride back. Having come to terms with the truth of his situation, Julian had been surprisingly eager to continue to talk with a man that he now knew was merely his own cognition of his grandfather. With Pelagio standing at a silent vigil and Mira content to merely listen to their chats, it felt like the saloon in the city that they had taken over was reaching some semblance of security. Grateful for the relaxation time, she had been content to slouch down in a chair and rest, casually watching the clouds pass overhead through a window.

Then came the noise.

It started with a ringing gunshot report, faint enough to be far away but unmistakable still. More shots followed after, and with them came the sound of perfectly human-sounding cries of pain, the unbearable agony of bodies being violated by tough pellets of metal, prompting her to run up the clattering wooden stairs and see what was happening. She was halfway there when the voice hit them all full force, an invisible wave front halting Julian and George's conversation as well.

" _TSURUGA!"_ The voice blared across the entire main street of Freedom city, so choked up with smoldering fury that it could scarcely even be recognized as a copy of Julian's.

To her ears, it sounded more like a vicious animal's howl than a human.

"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE, TSURUGA! YOU CAN'T CHANGE _MY_ HEART! I'M CALLING YOU OUT!"

There were more gunshots. There were more screams. She was about to run to the second floor window when Pelagio grabbed her by the arm in a stronger grip than normal, the incline of his sharp-beaked helmet all the warning she needed to stay away from the balcony rail.

"It's Rosea-kun's Shadow!", Mira called up to them unnecessarily. "He's gone crazy! He's just shooting people in the street!"

"Damn", she heard Julian's voice as well, sounding as if he were in pain again. Woozy. "Right... he's... me. I've gotta... stop him. Stop the other me."

As another, closer-sounding shot made her instinctively duck, Aiko turned back in time to see George grab his grandson's arm with the same urgency as Pelagio had grabbed hers. "You can't, boy! He's too strong for yeh!"

Sensing the start of a fresh argument and knowing that they had absolutely no time for it, Aiko stomped once with her boots to grab the old man's attention.

"No, I think he's right. He's the only one who can do it. Anyone else who came out, he would just shoot right away, but Julian-kun... I think he has a chance."

"TSURUGA! Come out NOW! Or more will die! _COME OUT SO I CAN FILL YOUR GUTS WITH LEAD!"_

Sensing the truth of her words, the elderly cognition nodded, releasing his grip. Julian was almost to the door when her gaze halted him again. "No suicide missions now", she warned him cautiously. "I know how you must be feeling... but you _can_ overcome this, Rosea-kun. Just... tell him what you really feel. Say what you need to say."

Julian stared back at her, the tears from his earlier breakdown still staining his face. For the first time, he was looking completely, absolutely serious, and she had to admit it wasn't a bad look for a guy with his kind of jaw.

"Taking my life for granted was what got us into this mess in the first place, Tsuru- sorry, you're Saber here, right? I _won't_ make the same mistake again. It's probably too much now to ask you to believe in me, but... Watch me. Please."

She did. From the rear window, it was possible to stay out of the enemy's sight while also having a decent view of the main street as Julian, once more dressed up in his full sheriff's garb, strode out onto it, boot spurs clanking as he went.

His top deputy, the Shadow, was waiting for him, standing directly across without a single other person daring to remain on the street. A trail of motionless bodies lay behind him, and there was a thin smoke trail rising from the pistols held upright in his hide gloves, both the black and the white one. Close enough now that Aiko could hear his own jangling spurs.

"Sheriff", the Shadow acknowledged without the mad rage that had coated his voice moments before. "Seems like we got trouble with some more outlaws. I'm hoping you've seen that Aiko Tsuruga 'round here?"

Julian was quiet for a long time. He did not seem to be looking back at his 'deputy', or at anywhere in particular. "D'you mean that piano player? She is pretty cute, isn't she?"

"I'm talkin' 'bout the other one!", the deputy growled, idly twirling both of his weapons with natural ease before re-holstering them. "The one what calls herself 'Saber'. Comin' 'round here, causin' trouble for us! I swear, I can smell her frightened little cunt... I've got a nice bullet here just for her."

From here, she could still see Julian's mouth twitch spasmodically as he adjusted his hat's thin brim, vacantly staring into the ground before pausing.

Letting out a soft, sad laugh that sidled through the streets.

"My God. I'm looking right at the proof, and I still can't quite believe it. That this really is the other side of _me_. That I'm really _this_ much of an asshole."

"Rosea-kun!", she heard Mira calling from a spot on the ground floor of the building, and for a moment Aiko felt ashamed that her fear had made her hesitate in doing the same. "NO! You're not! You can still change! Like I did!"

The sound annoyed the Shadow, of course. His face twisted back into fury and he raised one of his weapons. "You shut up, bitch!"

Another gunshot rang out, far closer than the others. For a moment she feared the worst, but then realized that the shot hadn't been the Shadow's gun.

It was Julian's. His revolver was still in his hand from when he'd drawn it, still smoking from the shot that had blasted his double's weapon cleanly out of his hands onto the ground behind him.

"Maybe I don't deserve to leave here. I could just end it, right here, right now. Just press this thing up against my head, and... _bang_. No more worries. No more guilt. But these people came all the here to save me. They still believe in me. And you know what, Shadow dude? Right now, I trust their judgment a _hell_ of a lot more than I do mine."

"Then you're weak", his double accused, already reaching for his second gun but not drawing it. "Letting them decide for you, just like always! Here, we can be free! Here, everyone knows that we're the coolest!"

Julian laughed sadly again, staring into those acid yellow eyes directly for the first time, now that he was able to bear the sight of it, tightening the grip on his own revolver. "What _is_ freedom, Shadow dude? Sure, I can be 'free' in this dream world. I can do whatever I want... but it's not real. And I can't do that when there are still people in the real world who love me. And... I love them."

His double seethed, teeth flashing in the bright sun of the Land's midday. "Fuck 'em! They're just _chains_! Chains that hold you down and stop you from being free! They keep you in a place where you don't want to be! Just you sit back and watch, and I'll break all those chains!"

"Yeah. And that's why", Julian nodded knowingly, returning his weapon to the holster with a quick flash. "That's why you've gotta _go_. Sorry, Shadow dude... you're just no good for me, y'know?"

Then, just as Mira's Shadow had, the deputy abandoned all pretense, speaking again in the cold, hate-filled voice that he'd used with Aiko back when she'd refused him at the school fountain.

"You don't even know. I'm the very best parts of you. I _will_ have freedom, even if I have to break those useless chains myself. You're just the leftovers, the weakness. You may as well call yourself Jiachi, because _I'm_ the real Julian Rosea. And you're right. One of us has gotta go. _It's high noon._ "

Finally able to step out a bit further onto the balcony, Aiko was amazed to see that despite all of the curdling hostility between Julian and his Shadow, neither one was firing just yet. They kept their hands at their holsters, each holding onto their single remaining revolver.

Instead they had both, as if on some silent agreement, turned around, always keeping their hands close to their holsters. Her instincts screamed to step in, but it was easy to see that the Shadow would be watching and waiting for just such an opportunity; he still hated her far more than he hated his 'weak' self.

The next stretch of time could not be determined either. Was it a minute? Two minutes? More?

All she knew was that she finally understood why it was that western filmmakers loved this sort of scene so much. The rising tension felt like it was a physical thing clouding up the air and cooking in the sun, the high winds screaming for a resolution. Time stretching on and on. Until it felt like everything that ever was, everything that ever mattered, lay suspended in the infinite _now_.

And when both figures finally moved as a blur of lightning-fast motion, it was a surprise for everyone watching except for the two of them. There was the rustle of metal rapidly clearing leather, a crashing shot heard from one end of the vast Land to the other... and then she saw Julian scream and fall down on one hide-clad knee, the dusty summer winds suddenly picking up further, as if mourning his loss.

" _Julian-kun! NO!"_

Coming back to reality, she realized that she'd leaped off of the balcony at some point, her flintlock pistol already drawn and cocked on instinct.

Julian had fallen, wincing from the pain of a shot to the knee even as Mira deployed her Persona's healing powers to try to mend the damage.

His Shadow didn't turn to shoot her. He was smiling, a twisted, crazed, broken grin... but his smile could do nothing to stop the blood that was beginning to spread outwards from the bullet that had landed directly in the center of his heart from where Julian had fired it.

And as he clutched one hand uselessly to the crimson stain growing across that heart, the Shadow laughed.

"Heh... Heheh. It's wrong."

With Pelagio landing beside her, Aiko switched back to her sword, once again sensing the danger before it was apparent. _Julian did his job. Now we do ours, and beat this Shadow down._

The blood spread further and further, all the way across the Shadow's muscled chest before it suddenly ignited into flame as if struck by a spark. The conflagration continued to spread upwards as he spoke, engulfing one entire half of his face with fire that was somehow a mixture of black and white instead of the usual scarlet of campfires or cooking.

"Heheh. HeheheHAHAHAHA! It's wrong! It's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, it's wrong, _it's wrong..._ Here, I'm free! Free to do whatever I want! Nothing and no one to hold me down any more! I won't leave! Never! _You won't take me away from the world of my dreams!_ "

By the time that this mad rant was over, the flames had covered nearly all of his body, consuming even the hat. They had only left behind one half of the face that continued screaming out the words at the top of lungs that by all logic should have been burned to ash by now.

One burning hand reached up towards that single lingering scrap of flesh. As it let out its loudest howl yet, more excruciating pain than anger, the half-skin mask was cast free... and the pyre of endless clashing black and white _surged_ , becoming three times its original human size, igniting the wood of some of the nearby buildings in the process.

Pelagio acted first, not even waiting for the Shadow's transformation to finish. Aiko felt the thickening sensation caused by the Rakukaja spell covering her, followed shortly by the feeling of her weight being magically reduced to feathers by Mira's Sukukaja.

By the time that was done with, the blaze had formed itself into a distinctive shape. Though none of them were familiar with many mammal predators, this one's lean limbs and sharp ears suggested a coyote most of all, or perhaps a jackal. White flames burned through black flames to form a mouth, eyes and nostrils constantly shifting about. Each of the limbs ended with claws of glowing phosphorous that would have looked lethal even without being composed entirely of living fire.

Of course, she was fairly certain that real coyotes also didn't grow up to be twelve feet tall and wide. _Oh my..._

The infinite fanged maw that had formed on the Shadow's animal face spread wide, releasing not the flaming breath that they expected, but one more booming, snarling threat; a promise.

" _You can't beat me! I AM YOUR SUPERBEAST!"_

She had to admit, no matter how she looked at it the display was frightening. Especially when the Shadow's clawed arms extended out to their full length, making it apparent just how big and angry it really was. If they hadn't spent so much time expecting this fight, imagining it, preparing for it, she would definitely have been scared enough to be slowed down. Perhaps fatally so.

Instead, Aiko simply reached up to her hat to tilt the brim ever so slightly and reveal the green flash in her eyes, calling upon another of the new masks which had been born in the secrecy of the Velvet room.

"Arise... _Tam Lin!"_

The figure that appeared before her bore a more distinctly humanoid appearance than any of her other masks so far. An elfin-looking warrior clad in emerald armor bearing an opulent, hooked gray spear, the same shade as his cape. A mane of snow white hair framed handsome but stern features with a single lock spilling down all the way down to the shining chest plate.

"And now... _Tarukaja!_ " The power-boosting skill wasn't meant for her, but aimed at Pelagio's broadsword, which was already inbound on the Shadow's large belly. The left-handed claw swipe intended to keep him away was just as fast and sudden as it had been when the creature was drawing his pistols, but was met with the rising blade. Aiko followed suit, slashing her thinner sword into the right arm.

Then, in the space of a breath, those nightmare claws of black and white fire surged and twitched, and the two of them were sent sprawling for five painful meters across the stretch of dirt, bestial mocking laughter echoing through the dust cloud that Pelagio's heavier form had kicked up from the street.

"Is that all you got? Hah! Try again!"

 _Ow, ow, ow, ow, owww...! Okay, new plan. Do NOT get near him until we've worn him down first. I'm already feeling the heat coming off him, and those claws are no joke either._

Aiko drew her pistol instead, shooting the offending arm at the same time that Mira's smaller darts sprayed into the beast's leering coyote face. _Much safer for us to fight at a distance until he's weakened, like we did with that snake._

The Shadow wouldn't sit there and accept a barrage of bullets and spells however. Gathering and springing off on its predatory hind legs, the creature leaped all the way up on top of the roof of the bank, ignoring how the building was immediately igniting with his touch to make an horrible retching noise and spew something dark and viscous from his mouth.

She saw the gooey black fluid cover an unsuspecting Mira. Winced at the cloying smell and her wails of disgust. " _Oil._.. Dancer, _be careful!_ If he touches you, you're toast! Literally! Get that crud off you first!"

The fanged maw of their enemy slid into a wider, even more hideous grin hearing that, the harsh crackle of flames present even in his speech. "Aw, but what's a party without a campfire? _Burn to the ground!"_

A massive blast of magical fire followed after the oil, bearing the more traditional crimson colors but no less dangerous. It flew out of his maw directly at Mira as she tried to shake the goop off in time, only spared when the transparent shield of _Praesi_ blocked it.

Not stopping to comment or accept thanks, Pelagio went right into into his next move, tiny dome-shape explosions peppering the Shadow like blue warts until it lost its grip on the smoking ruins of the bank and fell snout-first back into the dirt.

" _Aqua!"_

The very first skill she had ever used flew out, a geyser of water from below that was joined by Mira's lightning from above, synthesizing into something far more dangerous than either separate spell. Rising out of the electrified flood, the beast's forever blazing eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Heh. That... _stings._ "

"Have another then!", she hollered back. " _Again!_ Aqua!"

The wide jaw of their enemy shouted too, focusing his own spell into being.

" _You can't touch this! Makarakarn!"_

As had been the case with the earlier pistol duel, what happened next was so sudden that Aiko would only be able to piece together the events several seconds after the fact. The geyser of water began to rise up around the Shadow, Mira's lightning descending from the cloudless sky to meet it, and then there was a sharp pinging sound, a brief flash of an enormous hexagonal shell, and then she was being cast away herself, forcefully born upwards by the flood that had failed to even scratch her target.

Meanwhile, Mira's lightning had arced back towards her. Aiko wasn't too dizzy after the impact, but she _was_ stunned. "How did he...?"

"Makarakarn is a reflective magical barrier skill!", Pelagio spoke rapidly, passing on his spells now to charge at the beast head on, but still kept at bay by the blazing claws. "It is similar to my Praesi, but it only deflects the first-AGH!"

Too late, he'd seen the slick of oil the enemy had left for him and slipped up. A claw strike sent him flying back, but Aiko saw clearly the deep mark that his weapon had left on the enemy before it reformed, and contributed her pistol shot to that cause instead. "Then let's space it out! You cast first, then me, _then_ Dancer! Keep up the pressure! He can't block all of it!"

"Nice plan", the Shadow crowed. "But I'm in the mood for some roast turkey first! _AGILAO!"_

The invoked fire skill was much greater than the last one, easily tall enough to catch a jumping target with the way it sprang up from below, like an opposite version of Aiko's water geyser. A second too late to deploy his own barrier in response, Pelagio was caught off guard, the oil covering him igniting into much more painful and long-lasting flames. Mira's healing Media spell failed to extinguish them, and Pelagio frantically rolled around on the dirt to eradicate them before being further burned.

Eight shots and three narrowly-dodged streams of oil later, Aiko heard her pistol's hammer clink down on emptiness. _"_ Damn... I'm empty!"

She tried Jack Frost's Bufu skill anyway, the result being predictable as the Shadow used its barrier magic once more to fire the spikes of ice back to its caster. _He's always careful to block the water and ice skills, even if it means he has to accept taking damage from Dancer and Guardian in the meantime. That has to be his weakness._

Not that the knowledge would be of use to them any time soon. Another round of spells later, Mira was firing rapidly to prevent the Shadow charging her when that gun clicked empty too. The beast's hungry jaws lunged wide, only prevented from sinking into Mira's body by a combination of her natural agility and the sweep of a dagger across the muzzle.

Feral eyes glowing, it spat a drop of oil into the sand like it was blood, soaking up both wind and nuclear assaults with sheer determined grit. " _Fine!_ Play hard to get. I can finish Tsuruga first, then get around to punishing you and the turkey!" Spinning, he zeroed in on the team's leader next. " _AGILAO!"_

Far from quavering at the sound of their enemy's strongest skill, she brightened seeing the attack finally directed at her.

"YES!"

Switching out of Jack Frost, she sprinted into the new flame geyser... and out the other side of it just as fast, showing little signs of injury beyond numerous trails of ashen smoke. She was actually inside the aura of the enemy's overpowering heat now, and even Lilim's resistance couldn't block out the sensation of stifling pressure closing in her from all around.

While the Persona in question wasn't as physically strong or agile as Tam Lin had been, the Tarukaja effect on her blade remained, helping it to cut into the other arm as Pelagio's weapon had. The Shadow's counter was just as brutal as before and she had to retreat, but Pelagio had chosen that perfect moment to strike from behind, leaping down from a house balcony with a keening battle cry to cut into the unprotected snout.

For a moment the Shadow froze up, its howl of pain faint but unmistakable, and she thought that they'd finally done it... Then the enemy's eyes and flames flared up brighter than ever before, a thin wave of blue fire spreading out to blast them all back into the main square and ignite the drips of lingering oil on Pelagio's armor once more.

"All... right", she was able to grunt out once Mira had spent the next ten seconds healing them all to the best of her ability. Some of the burns couldn't be dealt with that way; it rather felt like the pain was being temporarily numbed. "This got ugly fast, in more ways than one."

"I fear I cannot continue using Praesi many more times, captain", Pelagio said in shame over even that small confession of his limits. Looking closer, she saw that even with Mira's healing, the metal of his armor was actually partly _melted_ in numerous places after repeated exposure to oil-fueled flames. As usual, Guardian was hiding just how much agony he had to be in. "If this Shadow continues his current strategy of combining the oil and his fire skills, I doubt that we can survive for much longer."

 _He's right. I might manage to last longer with Lilim's protection, but the others..._

"How do we take this creep down?!", she shouted aloud in frustration as the Shadow turned back to them, preparing to rush them again.

There were _some_ signs of him slowing down after all the damage they'd done, but not nearly enough. As Pelagio had said, he was clearly going to outlast them at this rate. "He's too tough for any of us to take on directly, he's got a magic reflector, and now we're completely out of bullets. Dancer can't keep healing us forever. I knew he was going to be tough, but..."

Hearing her name, Mira frowned for a moment, studying the smoldering wreck that their fighting had made out of so much of the town, then nodded. Grinned savagely. "No. No, it's fine. We can take him down."

Pelagio seemed surprised by her uncharacteristic confidence, then froze as he saw Mira digging into the kit of supplies they'd packed for the mission. "I see. So we shall resort to _that_. Very well, but we will need time. Time, and a place that he cannot easily escape from."

"I can provide both", Aiko declared. She wasn't quite sure what Mira had in mind, only that she rarely ever saw such a strong confidence in her friend's face, especially in this dimension.

"I'll distract him then. Don't stop to help me if it starts getting bad. I can take it. Just finish what you need to do, and kick his butt. Promise."

This had been mainly addressed to Pelagio, the one who was most at risk of ruining the plan if he sensed that she was being hurt in any way. As with Mira's Shadow, he would have to temporarily leave her side if they were going to win. To her relief, he didn't protest; they had no time for that now. Instead his beak stiffened, his raptor eyes anxiously shifting to the sight of the ravenous beast loping down the street at the them... and then back to her.

"As you order, my captain. We will act as soon as possible. May you have the best of luck in your own goal."

"Yeah. May I do that", she agreed, trying to hide her own doubts with humor as usual. Then they were done, all of her focus back to the task at hand... and how satisfying such a dangerous plan might be if it went well. That notion gave her the courage to begin it.

A new sensation bolstered that courage then, something that looked like magically-created flowers with long vines. She happened to be looking at one of the gashes on her wrist that hadn't yet been healed when the torn flesh began to knit itself back together, unprompted. It was an alarming sight at first, but then she looked over at Mira and relaxed a notch.

" _Rejesho_ ", the taller girl explained to her, looking almost apologetic for using her Persona's newest skill without permission. "Gradual healing over time, instead of all at once. I figure you'll need it now."

"If we live through this", Aiko promised her gratefully, "I'm buying you a new dress."

"Tsuruga-chan!" The voice was Julian's, but unlike his Shadow his presence was a welcome sight. He'd remained in hiding for the fight's opening, only now emerging onto another balcony to wave to her. "Catch this!"

A small object fell towards her, gleaming in the sun enough to spot and grab out of the air with her boosted reflexes. She saw that it was Julian's own classical revolver, still loaded with a good number of bullets, and smiled back. "Thanks! I'll take care of it from here!"

 _Alright, you creep. Time to see what you're_ really _made of other than fire and bad insults._

Her confidence renewed, she was striding back into the enemy's path of wreckage with a new energy, as if Julian's swagger had passed into onto her as well as his weapon. She deliberately waited until the Shadow was nearly upon her before readying her borrowed gun and calling upon Tam Lin's inherited power. "Aqua!"

Just as predicted, the enemy stopped his reckless charge to deploy the Makarakarn barrier again. With all momentum lost, he staggered under a fresh barrage of shots from Julian's weapon even she dodged away from the redirected water attack, what little damage she did take quickly being erased by Dancer's contribution. She continued to retreat further into the city while firing, putting more distance between her and her team, drawing the Shadow's ire away from them.

Just to make absolutely sure, she spoke as well, in a tone as insulting as she could make it while concentrating on so many other things. "Hey! Come on! Can't you do any better than that old trick, Jiachi-kun?"

The beast's reaction was almost amusing with the way its eyes jarred and narrowed into pinpricks of burning coal the very instant she uttered the last word. " _YOU_... I thought you'd learned by now! My name is NOT Jiachi! I'm Julian!"

"Well that's funny." The Shadow continued spitting oil and fire, but couldn't hit her while she was using the remaining nearby buildings for cover. "You sure _act_ like a Jiachi. Just barking out the same old threats and attacks like every other Shadow I've seen. Missing every time. There's nothing special about you at all, is there Jiachi?"

"Stop it..." The stable crumbled then, the wood bursting apart from the impact of the spells before they had time to properly burn. "STOP THAT!"

"Jiachi, Jiachi, Jiachi. I bet you can't even catch up to me, can you? Hahahaha! You're useless, Jiachi!"

Abject mockery was not her strong suit, she knew. While she'd seen it practiced sometimes, going out of the way to insult someone, to belittle and mock their most sensitive beliefs with the sole goal of hurting their feelings and making them angry or sad, had never really occurred to her before now. She tried her best to make her laugh sound derisive and cruel, punctuating every taunt with gunshots, but to her own ears it sounded almost comical.

Still, it was enough in this case.

The creature's claws were tearing into the buildings now instead of the flames, pure rage powering through the walls and support beams until each one collapsed, usually on him. She figured that was more than enough of a diversion to finally head for her true goal; the Freedom city train station.

It wasn't much to look at, at least compared to how she'd imagined it being. Merely an upraised wooden platform bisected by two sets of parallel rails, a large wooden awning providing some needed shade for the occupants. After experiencing how crowded Tokyo's train stations could get, seeing one like it completely empty almost felt sacrilegious.

She didn't have much time to dwell on it before the enemy arrived. He had smashed through the stables in his rage, through the gallows and the saloon and the bank along with dozens of smaller cabins where cognitions had once lived. Though the effort hadn't left much in the way of a sign on his roiling, blazing flesh, the exhaustion could be seen in his stance, the maimed front claws dragging along the ground and leaving furrows of cooked dirt behind them. If he hadn't been worked up into such a fury by her words, he might have been even slower.

"Come on, Jiachi!", she waved to him as if she was welcoming a friend. "Just a little bit further, Jiachi!"

The beast didn't blindly charge into the station the way she'd hoped however, instead halting to unleash his strongest fire skill once more. Aiko countered with a cast of Aqua that resulted in the enemy raising his barrier spell again, only to realize too late that his prey's spell had been aimed not at _him_ , but at the fire pillar, quenching enough of it that all she felt was a mild surge of hot summer air.

"You're still pretty", the Shadow grunted at her, sounding a bit calmer than before, at least at first. "I'll give you that much. I think what I'll do is burn your body into ashes, and then take your pretty fairy face off so that I can look at it whenever I want. So make sure you scream REAL loud, got it? It'll be _funny! HehehAHAHA!_ "

"Whatever you say... Jiachi."

Then she was running. Sprinting towards the beast for the first time in many minutes, cutlass out and ready. The front claws rose up to shred her as she entered the 'heat zone', but they lacked the strength they'd possessed at the start of the fight. Breaking her sprint into a slide aided by Tam Lin's natural agility and Mira's speed boost, she flew beneath them and jabbed the blade upwards into the exposed chest area.

Tam Lin, as she had quickly learned when testing, was also rather strong when it came to physical offense. Stronger than Onkot or Fomor had been. Stronger than any Persona she had ever felt, and the self-application of Tarukaja only amplified that difference further.

Her cutlass felt almost too dangerous to be in her own hands now, vibrating the very air around it. Like it could cut through the very ground itself if she was careless with it.

It could cut through chiaroscuro fire too, leaving a formidable scar along the creature's belly that did not fade. The claws pulled back, but every time one drew too near to her it was blasted backwards by a revolver shot while the blade in her other hand continued to hack deeper into the Shadow's main body with every swing, its frustration growing each time.

Finally, it had enough. The heat briefly abated, gathering up for the Maragi spell from before, impossible for her to evade at this distance. Bracing herself for that was only the diversion as a rear claw reached in to grab her sword, the spell's brunt knocking her loose of it no matter how she held on.

By the time she could stand again, the beast had already shoved the blade into its jaws and begun chewing on it with zeal. "No more of _that_ ", he remarked eagerly. "And I reckon your new piece is almost outta lead as well. Remember; make a scared face, and I'll turn you to ash quickly!"

Without waiting for a response, the Shadow leaped, the force of its unharmed rear legs propelling it up before coming down directly on top of her, front arms pinning her legs as the mouth prepared to yawn up more oil and fire. "Goodnight, pretty little fair-AHK!"

From her prone position, she couldn't see if the swords had gone all the way through and out the other side. She hoped they had, but the pain and shock they caused the Shadow when they were jabbed upwards into his stomach was enough. Both of the cutlasses she gripped in her hands looked brand new, a bit shorter than her old one but a bit thicker as well.

She certainly wasn't going to criticize officer Nijima's choice for her, especially now that having two backup swords hidden away in the inner pockets of her captain's vest had proven to be such an effective surprise tactic. The beast heaved a sick moan before nearly collapsing on top of her, the pressure on her legs weakening enough to kick free and roll away.

She rolled not out of some desire to look fancy, but because getting up and running _hurt_ too much now. Direct contact with an entity made entirely of dark flames had left her legs only partly responsive, every inch of movement sending a fresh stab of pain through those scorched nerves. Mira's Rejesho was helping to soothe the burns, but not enough.

People always said that pain of the heart was the greatest pain, but she must have gotten accustomed to that type. Because all she wanted to do just then was lie down, stop moving her legs, and sleep until it stopped.

By sheer luck, she was looking in the right direction when the Shadow lurched back to life, his heat aura returning along with jerky movement and badly slurred words.

"Nice...ugh... try. That spark in you... Time to... Extinguish!"

The Shadow stared.

Aiko stared.

The front claw came down like another gunshot, far too fast to avoid and far, far too strong to resist. As with the legs, it was like touching an actively cooking pan to her skin, instinctively flinching around, screaming, doing absolutely _anything_ to escape from the claw pinning her to the ground.

But her body's instincts didn't know about Personas. Eyes shut against the crushing anguish, she didn't need to see to aim. "Aqua!"

Either the Shadow was too close up to react in time, or he was finally too worn out by the long battle to call upon his barrier. The result was the same- a geyser of water covering the enemy, nullifying the heat as it washed over both Shadow and human in equal turn. For her it was actually refreshing, but it diminished the enemy's cloak of flame, transforming it into endless clouds of steam until she swore that she could almost make out an animal's skeleton lying beneath it.

Only for a moment though. Like the Shadow, her mental reserves for magic use had been expended with that cast, and now both claws were closing on her, crushing her until all she could do was close her eyes and pray.

Even that reflexive action seemed to incense the Shadow further, claws tightening further along with his voice now fully depleted of composure and sanity and anything else but hissing grit and fury and hate.

And screaming into her face.

 _ **"Look at me! LOOK AT ME! Look into my EYES! I wanna FEEL you die!"**_

Her voice was an equally strained whisper, the only thing she had left. _"Go... To... Hell..."_

The beast laughed. A triumphant laugh tinged with madness. "Where do you think I came fro- _huh?!"_

Then the pressure was gone. The sensation of searing heat likewise. For a moment wondering if she had died after all, she cracked one eye open. A great white bridge lay before her, blocking the noon sun.

No, that wasn't quite right...

She'd been looking at it wrong. It wasn't a bridge. It was a tower. A tower jutting up out of the burning city for nearly half a mile. It wasn't composed of wood, but the material looked familiar, jarring loose old memories that the pain had nearly burned away.

It was exactly the same as the silver ship which had brought them here.

The Shadow's reaction to the sight was far more pronounced. He stood up on his hind legs, squinting, not quite able to determine what he was seeing. "Huh? What the heck is _that_?!"

Her vision and senses gradually returning, she smiled gently as a row of hatches at the top of the tower swung open as one to reveal a quartet of freshly-polished cannons, all pointing down in an arc. "Hah... hahah... It's Guardian. He... did it. He really... now... you're done."

The beast was gathering more heat again, preparing to launch a fireball against the new structure, when the first cannon rang out, deafeningly loud even at this range. The lightning-infused projectile crashed headlong into its jaw, sending it reeling and solving the mystery in Aiko's head of just who was firing those cannons.

The second shell struck home as well, propelled by a coruscating green trail of bone-breaking winds. Each shot struck within a second of the previous one, a nonstop barrage, driving the enemy back, giving him no time to retch up any more flames or oil. As he tried to leap away, two more shots caught him mid-jump and blasted him back to the ground, helpless.

"You will not harm Saber any longer", Pelagio's stern voice blared out like a megaphone from the top of the turret once the Shadow had stopped moving. "You will not harm anyone any longer. You are finished, wretch!"

Their earlier positions were reversed now. Aiko had mustered up enough lingering energy to stand and move if not much more than that, Rejesho alleviating the worst of the burns, but the Shadow couldn't do anything except suffer and burn and mutter through his limp-hanging jaw.

"Damn it... damn it, damn it, damn it! It's wrong! It's wrong! _IT'S WRONG!_ I shouldn't lose! I _can't_ lose! Not to you! Not to anyone ever! _Who are you people?!"_

Emboldened by the quivering fear in those words, she stood up with the added boost of Tam Lin's own healing magic instead of Mira's fading spell, facing the beast head on with the same eyes that had made it obsess over her to no end.

"Us? You really want to know who _we_ are, Shadow?"

She couldn't even answer that for herself for a moment, merely waiting for the answer to come to her.

"We're travelers, I guess. Explorers of the world of dreams. We chase away all of the phantoms that haunt your sleep. We rescue people in need from their living nightmares, from their doubt, from their faithlessness... from their despair."

She paused then, blinking in surprise. The words had come so naturally to her that it seemed impossible to provide any other explanation that wouldn't be a lie somehow. She could certainly sense the approval of the long-haired Persona hovering at her side. Maybe Tam Lin had been the source.

It didn't matter now. "But for you? All that _you_ really need to know is... We're the ones who destroy nasty Shadows like you."

The tower behind her began to fade then, shifting itself back into the bipedal shape of Pelagio's knight form, Mira walking alongside him. As they had expected, the transformation had lasted for only a minute, but it had been enough.

 _Or...?_ While she initially feared a resurgence from the enemy now that their mightiest weapon was out of commission, it made no aggressive movements. Instead, Julian walked out into the station area with the others, eyes focused on the blazing wreck of the Shadow, not speaking.

His Shadow's beaten eyes sized up the situation, looking at all four of them in turn before bursting out into more crazed laughter. Laughter that seemed to be fueled by whatever combustion energy remained to it, the black and white flames shrinking back inwards, eating themselves out until everyone could see the ruined animal skeleton that lay beneath.

"Heheh... HAHAHA! This is hilarious... two losses in a row! Guess this really wasn't my day after all. Don't think it's yours either, fuckers! 'Cause pretty soon? You'll get the chance to meet some _real_ nightmares! Look forward to it! _Checkmate!"_

When the fire was completely gone, the force that animated the coyote skeleton went along with it, finally collapsing into an unrecognizable heap of dry bones. All that was left standing was one of the claw bones, which remained upright with its jagged middle finger thrust into a universally rude hand gesture a moment longer before disassembling as well.

Julian Rosea stood in the middle of the graveyard of bones, watching the city of his dreams slowly burn down around him. He felt the curious gazes of his saviors and a few cognitions who had lived through the battle on him, but for a long time he couldn't decide what to say except more blind apologies.

And those weren't enough. Not for this. Not for him.

"It's my fault", he said wearily. "I know that now. I always made excuses. I told myself that they never let me play soccer because they didn't like that I was a 'hafu'... but the truth is, they didn't care. They just wanted someone who wasn't stuck up their own ass. I made it all up. Thought it made me 'cool' and 'special'."

Staring back at him, truly seeing him for the first time, Aiko at last remembered to sheathe her swords, nodding. "Julian-kun..."

"Am I? Am I Julian?", he asked of the sunlight sky. "Or, am I Jiachi? No. No. Both are a lie. More lies I told myself. There's no Jiachi. And there's no Julian. There's only me. Both of those names are mine... just like that... _thing_ was mine too. Because _I_ brought him in here with me. He's a part of me, too."

Unlike with Mira, she knew better than to argue with him about that. Not when she knew he was speaking the truth, as he saw it. All she could think of was a way to comfort him, to try and soften the awful reality he'd chosen to face.

"I was always so damn angry with my old man... I thought that he was holding me back, stopping me from going to a place where I'd be free. Only gramps really understood me, told me tales about what America was like."

Snorting at the idea now, he shook his head. "But, what is freedom? What's it mean to be 'free'? Is it really just being able to do whatever you want? No. It's impossible for that to happen. Not without taking away other people's freedom. People who deserve that freedom, just as much as I do. More, even."

She saw Mira pointing then, following her gaze back to the pile of bones that had began to glow and rise up, stars whirling around Julian as though in orbit, the glow becoming gradually brighter as they drifted about like fireflies.

When no trace of the bones they had once been remained, and they were more akin to tiny shooting stars, comets, their collective voice rang out around Julian. An older, masculine voice, but bearing a gravelly note of reservation in it that bespoke a life of tragedy and violence.

" _In all the world, from east to west, freedom's the heaviest weight of all for a man to bear. It means that you provide for yourself, make decisions for yourself, and the toughest of all... you got to live with yourself. Only men I ever did see in complete freedom are in the ground. From the day you're born to the day you die, you gotta carry that weight. The weight of livin'. Else, you're just passin' it off."_

The stars were rising then, gathering together overhead as Julian watched them spin and spin.

" _Ain't no place that can make that weight any lighter, kid. Only thing that can do that is your family, and friends."_

Sniffing lightly, Julian nodded. "Yeah. I get it now. They were just trying to help me. They're not chains. My old man isn't a chain. My mom isn't a chain. My baby brother, when he's born... he's not a chain."

" _There's only one chain you need concern y'self with now, kid. The chains on your heart. The chains that stop your spark from reachin' out to ignite the hearts of others."_

The stars were gone. Vanished. In their place was a man with a enormous coal-black cloak wreathed about him, a simple, standard cowboy hat, and eyes beneath that overcast hat brim so intensely bright that Aiko couldn't bear to look at them for long. Despite this initial fright, this man shared the same easygoing, brash grin she remembered from her first interactions with Julian, tipping his hat politely to everyone as he touched the ground.

" _Howdy there, folks. Name's Wild Bill. I am Thou. And Thou Art I. It's time for this kid here, who's always carried my spirit in his heart, to let it all out now."_

"Yeah", Julian agreed, clutching one hand to his head but refusing to yield to the pain, knowing that it wold only last until he'd truly expelled the darkest part, the part that had created the savage coyote Shadow, from his own heart.

"Yeah. It's time I stopped fooling myself. Damn, I've sure got a lot of people I need to make up with. Lots of sins I need to balance."

" _Then we got ourselves a bindin' contract_ ", the cloaked Persona looked at him eagerly. " _Break them chains of egotism, kid! Unleash my power, and pillage this dismal dawn of illusions!"_

The voice was gone. Time resumed unhindered. The spirit had vanished, invisible chains cast aside in useless fragments of thought, his golden sheriff badge dropping into the dirt with a ceremonious clang.

And Julian stood before them a new man.

In more ways than one.

His sheriff's cloak, which had been torn up and burned in several places by the battle, had been transformed into a red trench coat, zipper hanging open at the center of the chest with an arched collar and black pants, a simple white tunic underneath. It bore a glossy black gun belt with two full holsters, two gray handles jutting out in front of him, ready to be grabbed and pulled loose. His hat was gone. Instead, a sash lay wrapped about his head the same bright color as his jacket, obscuring half of the left eye as if bandaging an ancient injury.

Pelagio surprised everyone by being the one to speak to him first.

"To be completely free is to be completely, and utterly, _alone._ Forever. Perhaps a rare handful of humans might indeed desire that fate for themselves, but I have seen your past actions, boy, and I do not believe you are truly one of those humans."

His eyes focusing again, Julian shook his head. "No. I'm not. Not any more. That desire doesn't make me special. It just..."

"I am glad to hear it", Pelagio said sharply. "Because such was my life for as long as I can remember, my only company being the feral Shadows who sought to devour me for my crime of existing. These two months that I have spent living in the human world... have been _far_ more enjoyable for me than all of those years alone."

"The feather bag knows what he's talking 'bout, boy", old man George's voice came to him then as he stepped out from the station's wreckage, still smoking his pipe somehow. "Maybe I can't be with you any more over there, but I don't have to be. Looks like you've finally figured out what I was really tryin' to teach ya."

"Yeah", Julian sniffed. "I have."

He hugged the man again, this time so strongly that he began to cough.

"I'll miss you", he whispered, no longer caring if the others heard his voice crack. "Every day."

"When things get tough", the cognition advised him, "think about me. And not just me. Your father, and your mother. And your brother. And your wonderful friends. That charming feller who came out from within your heart. Think of their courage, and act."

"Thanks, gramps. I will. I promise."

The embrace only stopped when a new noise caught everyone's ear, the loud gushing drawing their attention to a geyser that had erupted from somewhere just outside of the town. By the time they had realized exactly what it was, the water had already begun to pour in between the welcome archway's posts.

"The Breach", Pelagio realized out loud. "Now that he no longer desires this world of dreams to be his home, it shall collapse, just as Dancer's did."

But that wasn't quite right, Aiko realized as she peered closer, too curious to be slowed by her fatigue or healed injuries. The gush that was now streaming into the town from multiple erupting geysers wasn't actually doing much damage to it. Just the opposite, in fact- it was quenching all of the rampant fires the Shadow had created at a much faster rate than her water spells could have.

The streams curved through Freedom city as if they were purposeful, drawn to the pestilent flames until they were all gone, then gradually reforming into trenches that hugged the middle of each street, Mira and a few of the citizens moving quickly to get out of the way. Despite this, the trenches were content to remain at their current size, no longer threatening to wash over anyone.

"It's safe, Saber", Pelagio confirmed after dipping a curved talon into it. "Normal water. Not like the waters of Faraway Lands."

"Good thing", Mira joked beside him. "Or you would have transformed again. I have to say, I wasn't expecting that transformation!"

"I don't believe that anyone was", Pelagio agreed, happily watching as the people of the town came to grips with the newest feature of their home. "I've never taken on that shape before. Normally, those cursed waters only ever cause me to change into a boat. Still, I will gladly transform into anything I must to aid my captain. That was a clever idea, Dancer. Bringing that bottle of Faraway Lands water for emergencies. I am ashamed I did not think of it sooner."

"I was so worried it might not work", she confessed, grabbing and showing a small oval hip flask, a flask that was now empty. "Worried that maybe you had to be completely immersed in it to transform or something. I'm glad to be wrong about that."

"Gotta agree with you there", Julian chimed in, stepping closer until he could see his reflection in the fresh water. "You've got a lot of cool tricks. For a grumpy bird, anyway."

"Hmph!"

"I've said my goodbyes", he explained further. "The people of this city are going to have to rebuild... and find a new sheriff now." Looking around at the ruins and feeling drops of water begin to pelt his brand new coat, he snickered. "They were pretty happy when they found out I'd shot my deputy though. They must've really hated him."

"They are all cognitions", Pelagio reminded him, reverting back to his usual demeanor. "Fabrications. Imaginary versions of people you know in the real world."

"Yeah, I know that." Julian admitted, refusing to drop his grin after everything that had been done to retrieve it from despair. "But I still hope they get by okay in this place."

The four of them departed together. Behind them, the towering geysers continued to pour down the life-giving water, seeming to clean away all the dirt and debris that had choked the town even before the battle had rocked its foundations.

Leaving behind newly-made rivers in the desert.

* * *

Enemy Profile #8: Shadow Julian/Jiachi

Arcana: Hanged Man

Strength: Fire (Absorb), Curse, Earth

Weakness: Water, Ice

Abilities: Rampage, Flying Stomp, Maragi, Agilao, Crude Stream, Makarakarn

* * *

A/N:


	27. Let The Butterflies Spread Until Dawn

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

5/24 Friday

Evening

"He is gone", Lady Scorpio announced starkly, her mirrored mask hiding any aggravation that she might have held over the development. "I sensed his demise. It was in a dream world of sand, sun and wood."

Ryuken began to school his handsome features into a feigned expression of sorrow, then immediately realized there was no need for it. There was no fooling her at any rate.

It wasn't the Shadow's passing that they regretted, but the loss of their best weapon to deal with their current problem- the extremely rare Shadow who could actually pass for a human if they so wished. They had others at their disposal, certainly, but not a single one with that useful ability.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish", he remarked brusquely, staring up into the ceiling lights. "Still, I don't want to risk everything on King Leo if we can help it."

"No", Scorpio agreed calmly. "Not yet. Of greater interest to me is how that Shadow met its demise. I did not quite see everything... but it was enough. We are no longer alone, Prince Taurus."

That peaked his interest anew, and he stood out of the dressing room chair, instinctively touching his single earring for luck. "You're saying that he didn't die to another Shadow?"

"No." Turning, she faced one of her various mirrors. "He did not. There are _other_ Persona users out there. Other users of the power, who slew that Shadow."

"Well", he considered breathlessly after a moment of silence. " _That_ certainly complicates things, doesn't it?"

"I have seen them before", Scorpio confessed, actually sounding a bit guilty for not bringing it up with him beforehand. "In my visions, when I sleep. They are young. Untrained. I doubt they have held the power for long."

"Who _are_ they?", Ryuken asked her before remembering something else. "Wait. Hold on... I remember, that Shadow was talking earlier about someone. A 'Tsuruga-chan' who was threatening to expose him, just like Queen Aquarius was. You don't think...?"

She remained tight-lipped. The mask's lips were always that way, but the way she was tilting it made them seem particularly short, twisting the reflection of his face off it. "That could be. Though, it would be impossible for anyone of that age to have gained her Persona in the same way that we did."

"That doesn't matter", he continued more eagerly, rubbing his hands together. "What matters is that we might have a potential replacement for Queen Aquarius on our hands here. If her Persona's really strong enough to beat that Shadow..."

"Don't be so hasty, Taurus", Scorpio cautioned him. "She did not defeat that Shadow alone. I saw that much in my visions already. Remember that she is quite young. I doubt that she would be likely to join our cause, even if we explained to her why our Salvation is necessary. You know perfectly well the nonsense that Japan fills the heads of its children with these days."

Ryuken made a disgusted face at that reminder, but he refused to back down so easily. "I'm sure that we can do it. You can just 'persuade' her like you did the others. You're good at that."

The motionless mask gave back no hint of annoyance. "Thank you. But once again, you flatter me. You wrongly assume that my talents will be effective on anyone that I wish to persuade. It is... not so simple."

She pointed one thin finger to him. "You, for example, possess a strong will, _and_ a powerful Persona already. I could not persuade you to act against your desires even if I tried to."

That analogy silenced him again, getting him back down in his seat. Beginning to slowly pick the various scattered books and back up to replace them on the shelf, she paused after a minute, placing a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Taurus. You really do miss Aquarius, don't you?"

Remembering how futile it was to lie to her, he nodded. "Yeah. I think about her a lot. We're about the same age. Without her around, I have to be the public face of our club all by myself, and the main recruiter. It's kind of tiring sometimes, y'know?"

He wasn't complaining. Or least, didn't want to sound like it. She knew that without needing to ask. But while Scorpio was the one most seriously devoted to their goals, she wasn't entirely without a heart either.

"The Kochi fishermen... have they been delivering what they promised us?"

"Yeah", he nodded. "Near as I can tell, none of them have been asking questions about it either. Just keep the money coming, and they'll give us what we need."

"Very well", she conceded, back straightening. "Perhaps this is what _I_ have been waiting for as well."

He frowned. "What you've been waiting for?"

She began slowly running a hand along the smooth curve of the mask, as if in pain.

"My visions are incomplete. I cannot behold the truth of the world in its entirety. However, it would be remiss of me not to notice the similarity of events here. I believe that these other Persona-users I saw have been created by the Servant."

Ryuken glanced at the room's broken mirror, not sure what to say to that, or how to react to the sudden shade of anger clouding her words at the end. This was the sole part of their plan that he couldn't express any real enthusiasm for. How could he, when he'd never even met this 'Servant' that Lady Scorpio so despised?

"Your real enemy", he managed. "Right?"

"The enemy of all of humanity", Scorpio emphasized fiercely, her shroud of emotional cold finally pierced. "I always believed that destroying the Servant would be our final goal, but if these children I have seen in my visions are truly connected to _him_ , then perhaps..."

"We'll do it", he promised. No matter who these kids were, or who this 'Servant' was, it was too late to go back. He'd chosen his side long ago.

Distantly, he could sense Mithras' approval of his resolve.

"Find this 'Tsuruga'", the hostess ordered, returning to her muffled calm. "Find out how much she knows. If she has learned about us already, then I promise to put in my very best efforts to persuade her to join us, and become our new Queen Aquarius."

The happiness on his face could be detected even without her special abilities. Her voice darkened in response, preparing to give him the bad news.

"However, if she refuses our offer after that, then we will have no choice in the matter... We will have to silence her, and all of her friends. Anyone else who has acquired the power from the Servant, and might try to interfere with our plans."

 _Better start training up Nayuta-san just in case._ Keeping that doubt suppressed, he gave a respectful bow to her, so over the top he hoped it might make her smile beneath her mirrored geisha mask, a secret to all but the two of them.

Just as so many other things were. The secrets they had to keep, until the time came that humanity could truly become as Gods. "As you wish it... my lady."

* * *

5/25 Saturday

Afternoon

The temple's lights did not beckon Aiko to enter through the dusty wooden door. They seemed to be as diminished as the one within, perhaps running on a lower power setting to conserve.

Still, she didn't hesitate to pry it open and walk through. Officer Nijima wouldn't have lied to her. Not about this situation. Sure enough, at the end of the rows of benches was father Shigetsu with a broom.

That was what made her pause for the first time since setting out from the bus stop. While Shigetsu was clearly intent on cleaning the place up, the impediment of having only one leg meant that he had to use the broom as his cane. Whenever he wanted to dust an area, he would reach out with one arm to grip a bench and balance himself while the other moved the broom around.

Naturally, this pace was terribly slow. More than that: It was the most pathetic sight she could remember seeing in her life, including the time she'd seen a crippled cat in an animal hospital. He even looked older than she remembered, his face withered by recent events and their repercussions.

The only thing she could have imagined making it worse was if he were blind as well, but his eyes turned to face her amicably. "Miss Tsuruga. I'm afraid you've found in some difficult circumstances, but you are welcome to pray here."

It almost felt like it would be an insult for her to sit, and for a moment she wanted to run back the other way. _Too late for that now. Think of what kind of message that would send._

She decided to stand, moving in closer in case he started to fall. "I...I heard about what happened, father."

He answered with a polite smile. "Did you? I suppose that the police were free with that information?"

"Something like that", she agreed, not wanting to point fingers at Nijima.

That elicited the first real sign of weakness from him, an admission of his own worry as he took a seat, dropping the broom as if it no longer mattered.

"You are the first one to come here since that time. All of my usual flock have departed. I cannot blame them, seeing what they have. They must believe me possessed." He made a sad chuckle. "Perhaps I am. Perhaps that is the reason."

"Last Tuesday", she noted. "Right? Sorry I wasn't here."

"Don't", he scoffed. "If you had been there to see me, you might not have come now. But I know the truth. I know what I felt. It was a monster coming to our world. Just like the ones from six years ago."

She considered that for a moment. Only for a moment. "Yes. He was a monster. But he's gone now, father. We're safe."

The priest shook his head, gesturing with his broom hand to the windows of his temple, each one adorned with a mythological figure now caked with dust. "There are other monsters here. They remain sealed away throughout Kochi, but I can sense them now. Locked up in metal bonds, waiting for the day that they shall be freed."

"What?"

Facing her, Shigetsu gently tapped the part of his robe that covered the damage from six years ago. "My injury. It reacts whenever one of the monsters is close. I receive no signals here, but when I am out and about, they become stronger. I know that they are nearby, if not exactly where."

She peered around the vacant temple, trying to understand as he shrugged.

"I thank you for your courtesy, miss Tsuruga, but I know what you must truly be thinking about me now, just as all the rest do. You must believe that there are no monsters. You believe that I am senile, that I have gone mad and belong in a place where I can be taken care of by others."

"N-no", she blurted in protest, standing again. "I believe you, father. Really."

He looked troubled, scarcely able to accept what he was hearing... and then smiled back. A genuine one this time, unmarred by bitter cynicism.

"That's... That's good to hear. It's so strange. I told myself that it didn't matter if no one ever believed me about the monsters, so long as I believed myself. Yet... Now that there's one other person who believes my words, I find my heart lightened. Thank you, and God bless you."

Being treated as some kind of savior for something that was so easy had pangs of guilt creeping back, and she looked around the room instead of staring into such an honest, happy face. While most of the cleaning job was done, she saw several reusable plastic bags in the corner of the altar to answer her next question.

"Father... are you eating alright?"

He hesitated, coughing once. "For now. If you have truly been honest with me child, then I owe it to be fully honest with you. This place is my home. My only home. Without a congregation, my days of being able to feed myself are now numbered."

 _He's right_ , she mused as the weight of that revelation settled down onto her. _Some truths aren't easy to hear._

Signs of poverty were easy to spot in Tokyo these days. This was just the first time that someone she knew had been affected.

"God provides", he piped up, easily able to detect the funk that his words had plunged her into. "There is a free public shower in Motomachi that I use for cleansing, and my bed here isn't going anywhere. My only true concern is food."

"There's got to be someone", she protested, desperate to lose this weight pressing her down harder than the Shadow's burning claws had yesterday. "There's homeless shelters that you can use."

"There is a shelter in Asahimachi", he acknowledged, his thin-haired head down as he stifled another cough. "Unfortunately, word has spread to it about my... condition. There are a few others in the prefecture of course, but they are lengthy journeys."

"Not if you don't-" Aiko stopped, realizing in shock what she had been suggesting.

Shigetsu, by contrast, remained easygoing as ever, merely closing his eyes and leaning back into the ceiling's reflected lighting. "This place is my home. It's all I have left. I can't abandon it. If I must die here, then so be it. Until that time, I will endure, and look to the Lord for providence."

Revulsion rose in her. Not of Shigetsu, but of her mental image of the fate he was resigning himself to. _Dying all alone, in a quiet place like this, without anyone even knowing, or even caring... It's just like the Lands. Worse._

 _I can't leave him like this. I can't. He can't take care of himself this way. I should call someone, ask them to take him. But if they do, then..._

Burning tears began to force her eyes shut as well, though she became acutely aware that he was watching her now. "You... you idiot. How do you expect me to walk out of here after hearing you say that? Is keeping this place really worth your life?"

"It is", he said calmly. "To me."

Images swam before her eyes. The people she'd seen on the streets of Tokyo when she was younger. The debris of broken bottles and pipes. Disheveled, stained clothes and desperate stares. Though she had been too young to really understand what that meant at the time, what had stuck in her memory was the way that everyone else tried not to look for too long. Parents would cover their children's eyes until they were gone.

Letting loose a frustrated grunt that rattled the rafters, she turned to him.

"Here's two thousand yen. Take it. Don't argue, _don't_ feel guilty; I have a part-time job at the Starlight diner and my mom sends me some money every month. Just take it. Please."

Against her demands, he looked extremely reluctant to take the offering. The same pride that prevented him from surrendering the temple was also slowing him down to a crawl now.

"'Don't feel guilty'", he joked. "There is perhaps no command more difficult to follow. All that I can promise is that I will try, miss Tsuruga. As well as promise anything else that you wish of me in return for this blessing."

Feeling the weight falling loose, she nodded gratefully. "There are a few things. First, I want you to make a promise right now that if you're really in danger of starving, you'll report to a shelter. I don't care what you say about that, a freaking _building_ isn't worth your life."

Slowly and grudgingly, the pact was made. "...Very well. In return, let me say that I will do everything I can within the law to avoid such a dire situation."

"Of course", she agreed. "Second, I need your help."

The priest blinked in confusion. "My help? With what, child? Name it. I will do whatever I can."

Something had changed in the temple then, she realized. Even with all that dust coating the windows that Shigetsu couldn't reach without aid, the orange afternoon sunlight was beginning to slant through. _The gate would be opening about now. But now, no one's trapped there. The tides have gone back to normal._

"Practice", she explained. "Once I'm done helping you clean up this place a bit better, I need to practice for a confession."

* * *

5/26 Sunday

Afternoon

Cresting the latest in a series of grassy hills, Julian Rosea turned back to survey the long path he'd walked. Aiko and Mira were a ways behind, but so long as he could see them he didn't need to worry that he'd accidentally lost them. While both of them were in decent shape- a state that had likely improved considerably over the last two months- he was the only one who worked out regularly.

Perhaps not so long ago, he might have rocketed ahead and left his 'project partners' in the dust behind him, only stopping at each shrine on the road to let them catch up to him, perhaps greeting them with a derogatory remark about their poor speed. It wasn't just the occasional glimpse of Pelagio soaring through the sky above them that had made him shy away from this typical approach.

For the last three days, it felt like he'd been breathing the air of an entirely different world. New eyes had beheld everything around him and seen things he never would have before.

His parents, for two. He'd never seen his father act the way he did when he finally, truly, returned to them, and his mother had welcomed him back with an energy he thought wasn't possible for people their age, preparing his favorite meals day after day until he'd started to feel guilty again.

He hadn't been able to tell them everything, of course. Luckily, they hadn't really asked. They were just happy to have him back, and back to normal. The excuse that he had 'run away' was close enough to the truth.

He'd tried his best in turn to be worthy of that forgiveness. A father as uncaring as he'd once believed Akusa Rosea of being would have simply thrown him out... and Jiachi would have understood that course of action entirely. He no longer felt his blood curdle when the other name was used.

 _Because both of those names are mine. Neither one of them represents anything except me._

Earning Mr. Umaeda's clemency had been more difficult, and he wasn't even surprised to be removed from the club. Not merely for his absences, the teacher had explained, but the demonstration of a lack of discipline. For the same reason that a credible martial arts instructor might refuse to teach someone who obviously had some issues of their own to work out before applying themselves to the disciplinary aspects of the craft.

School was still there, waiting for him. And once again here, he had found a surprise, finding himself much more popular than he had been. People were interested in what he'd seen on his trip, and what had prompted it.

Giving him some much-needed practice for today.

They hadn't come all this way just so he could make a confession, of course. This was a school assignment just as much as it was a brief nature retreat, a project that all of them had completely forgotten about during recent events.

This Sunday was 'Exploration Day'. For it, they had to travel to a place they hadn't ever been before, and then write up a report for their homeroom teacher on what they saw and did on their trip. While Julian knew that Tokyo's students had a lot more colorful and varied options to choose from for this country-wide assignment, Tosashimizu city had a number of 'natural' locations around, and much less of a hassle to reach in one day.

Groups were not required, but encouraged. He couldn't have asked for a better chance to get everything weighing his chest down off of it, out here in the wilderness of the Ashizuri Sunny pilgrimage trail.

Seeing the roads and hills stretch on through the trees towards the sun for what seemed like forever, he smiled, deliberately inhaling as much fresh air as he could as if to purge the toxins still inside him. Having only the single day, they'd only been able to use a small fraction of a pilgrimage trail that had been designed for multi-week excursions to as many as 25 different shrines, and even that was a formidable hike for students unused to it.

Aiko and Mirambela didn't seem too winded yet though, the latter easily bounding up the hills towards him at a measured pace as if her bag weighed nothing at all. "You've been hiking before", he observed in approval from his spot on the hill.

"Many times", she smiled back at him. Like everyone else, she was more forgiving of what she had seen in his Land than he had dared to believe. "My brothers would lead me down the wilderness trails back home, showing me the safest ones."

"Still probably way more scenic than this", he observed. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice, but..."

"-But you were hoping to see some more wildlife? A 'nature retreat'?"

"Yeah."

Mira shrugged. "I don't mind. I think we've all had our fill of animals for... I'm sorry."

He shrugged, casting it off easily. No matter what they tried, avoiding conversation paths that led back to memories of his time in Faraway Lands seemed impossible sometimes. Instead of letting it get him down, he raised a hand.

"Hey hey, don't be sad. After what happened, I feel like I could spend the rest of my life atoning and it wouldn't be enough. So let's keep this practical; for the next hundred times you feel like you need to apologize to me for something, don't bother."

Mira blinked, trying to work out his logic. "Uh. That... doesn't really make any sense, but okay."

"Life doesn't make sense", he said more wistfully, glancing out over the field. "Why would that other world make sense either, if it's what the angry bird says it is?"

For once, Pelagio was too far away to hear him and pompously correct him, always claiming that he wasn't a mere bird. That had been just one of the many new experiences since he'd gotten back, and easily one of the most bizarre; a saker falcon actually _talking_ to him. And understanding him when he talked back to it.

"Yes. It was weird for me too", Mira told him, guessing his thoughts without having to be told. He was surprised that it was her, not Aiko, who had been able to anticipate his moods and thoughts so accurately before and after their return, even visiting him in class between periods to make sure he wasn't feeling _too_ guilty.

"My Land was different", she continued, drawing even with him as they continued jogging along the trail. "A technological forest. But the reason that drove me there was the same. I felt like I couldn't stand this world any more. I had to escape it, no matter what. Then..."

"Then there was that voice", Julian remembered, understanding. "'Vow to me'?"

"Yes. My own voice", Mira echoed nervously. "It said 'Vow to me, and I'll deliver you from your troubles, and create a whole new world you will never want to leave'."

"Huh. Good memory."

She shuddered in fear beside him. "It's not an easy thing to forget."

"Yeah." He would never forget that voice either. The voice which had called out to him from within his own mind, which promised him a paradise beyond the gate of emerald green light that had opened up. Many of his recent memories remained fuzzy and incomplete, but not of that part.

It had promised him freedom. _Freedom? Is being trapped in an endless dream world you never want to leave really freedom? Maybe. But that freedom's got a cost too... and it's too high for me._

It hurt his head to think about things like this too much. Especially when he had another major ordeal looming ahead of him. Not the next shrine coming up, but what he was planning to do when he got there.

The red-painted shrine was smaller than most, but it would serve his purpose. When Mirambela went off to refill their water bottles, it left him and Aiko alone on the bench beneath the overhang of the shrine's sloping roof.

"So", he blurted, all of his carefully-memorized speeches for this exact moment suddenly useless.

"So", Aiko repeated, looking not at him but at the copse of trees covering the shrine's wall carvings.

"Sorano-san", he tried again. "Told me what my Shadow did. What he did... to you."

Her head dropped in retreat. It seemed like she'd been anticipating something like this. "No. Please, don't think that. It wasn't you. It wasn't your hands."

"No", he said delicately. "It wasn't my hands. It was my thoughts that did it."

She shook her head, eyes shut tight. "You... You're just like Mira-chan. Wanting to take all the blame for all the bad things your Shadow did. Do you _really_ think that you two are the only ones with suppressed thoughts? Things that you wanted to say or do, but you didn't?"

"...No", he conceded gratefully. "Of course not. Everybody's got some nasty shit in their heads that they keep hidden away. I know that. But they aren't the ones who did that to you. I did. Me. And all because..."

Now the difficult part. He had hoped it would be the other way around, that earning forgiveness would be the height of his emotional strain. Only now were his eyes cinching up, his muddled brain having to take a moment to plot out each individual word, always fearful that they might create the wrong image entirely and she would never want to see him again.

Perhaps that was the punishment that had been waiting for him to return.

In the end, all he could fall back on was the honest truth. "He went after you because of me. Because ever since we met, I spent some time... thinking about you. About us. About how impressed everyone would be."

Her reply was not cruel or sharp-tongued at all. It was flat. Matter of fact, as if like him, she had already worked it out long in advance.

"You were thinking. Thinking about how all the other students would think you're cool. Because boys who get girlfriends are cool. And being seen as 'cool' is the most important thing in the world. Right?"

 _This isn't fair_. That was what he almost wanted to leap up and say. They'd been inside his Land. Inside his heart. They knew almost as much about him as he did.

 _Maybe that's the point._

"...Yeah. Okay. You've got me pegged. You saw me back there. I wanted to be 'mature'. I wanted to be 'cool'. That was my only real goal. And uh, guys who get girlfriends and go on dates with them and buy gifts for them are... 'cool'."

She looked across the bench then, spotting the small wrapped box in his hands with a pleasant surprise on her face. "Oh... um... well... thanks."

He waited until she was done awkwardly unwrapping the small box before continuing. The hairpin inside was tiny and lacking any jewelry, but he had been told that its light painted shell design was a popular fashion in her home town, back in Tokyo. Given their current situation, he wasn't expecting a noise of joy to fly out of her mouth like he might have normally. It was enough for now that she didn't reject it entirely.

Would she reject _him_?

"I bought it for you before all this crazy stuff started happening", he admitted staring straight ahead. "I wanted to give it to you sooner, but then you found out that I was lying about being on the soccer team, so..."

"I know. I get it. You were afraid", she acknowledged, idly toying with the gift. "You were afraid I'd be mad because you lied. So you stayed away. You even stopped going to the fencing club, just so you wouldn't see me."

"Yeah. That's exactly right. But I kept on... dreaming. I still wanted us to be together. Because..."

His throat was his enemy now, locking up to prevent further words until he swallowed and forced it back into line.

"Because... I think... that you're 'cool', Tsuruga-chan. Seriously. The fact that you did all of this, just to help a bastard like me? To help Sorano-san earlier? That just makes you even more cool."

She took in a deep breath, no doubt brushing her own private fears and insecurities aside as she did so, all of her earlier practice gone with the wind.

"I appreciate that, Rosea-kun. Really, I do. Even if you liking me caused some... bad stuff... to happen."

He grimaced. His memory of that confrontation was still just as clouded as the rest of what his Shadow had done while he was gone, but he'd heard and seen enough from the others. His Shadow had transformed his innocent boyish affection into a deadly obsession. A burning need to make her submit to him and be his loyal partner.

It looked like she had come to the same conclusion on her own, a hardness in her words now.

"What you really wanted, what you daydreamed about... was a pretty girl who constantly sung your praises. Who would walk down the school halls together with you, holding your hand and smiling. Who would kiss you in public. Who would cling to you, and threaten any other girl who looked at you."

Pause. "Am I on the mark so far?"

He gulped, expecting the worst to come. "Y-yeah. That sounds about right."

Leaning back on the bench, she smiled wearily at him instead. Even several days of rest hadn't quite restored her from the battle on Friday.

"I won't lie to you and say that type of girl doesn't exist. They do. I know they do. I've seen the way that Takeba-chan acts around Otoba-kun, and they're hardly the only ones who are like that around each other. But... that's _not_ me. I don't like being so clingy. I'm not that person. Sorry."

"Yeah. I know", he admitted. Despite her words, she had left a small hand exposed on the bench, all but inviting him to reach out and touch it. "That's part of why I liked you. You're like me. No... you're like the person that I _want_ to be seen as. You don't take shit from anyone."

She snorted faint amusement back. "Oh please. It's not like I'm some kind of super-independent rogue. I still follow the rules and do my homework and stuff. I just don't like bullies."

He didn't feel like now was the right time to point out that he _did_ still remember the clothes she had been wearing in the other world, quite vividly. A dark loose-fitting captain's jacket straight out of a swashbuckling fantasy. A weapons belt containing multiple antique foil swords along with a dusty flintlock pistol, and a large, floppy-brimmed hat which completely masked her eyes until the time came to pull the brim up and unleash a 'Persona'.

At least, that was the way he understood it. There hadn't been time to get all the details just yet.

Now that they were back in reality, she didn't have any of those things on her. She wore a simple white dress shirt and long black athletic shorts in lieu of the more restrictive Koashimizu skirt uniform. The passionate determination to win that she had shown to his Shadow was no longer on display. If anything, she looked just as guilty as he felt inside.

"I like boys", she announced after a minute as if that were some kind of grand revelation to the world. "I don't know exactly when it was that I started feeling that way, but I do like them. The ones who are strong...", and here she reached over to cusp his right arm fondly. "...and the ones actually focus on the important stuff. Like... Tatsunoko-kun."

He winced, torn between blushing and something else rushing in his head that had started with her touching his hand. "Uh. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I think that Tatsunoko-san has other plans. Depending on who you ask, he's either in a relationship with his job as student council president, or with Kujou. Or both. Also, you're a first year and he's a third."

"I said _like_ Tatsunoko-kun", she corrected in mild irritation. "Although I have a hard time believing that he'd stay with her if he knew what she was really like."

Julian chuckled back. Even more than his disappearance and 'triumphant' return from the ether, the grudge between Aiko Tsuruga and Benihime Kujou was rapidly becoming the stuff of school legends. According to rumors, it was the number one thing that Kujou talked to all her friends about. In turn, he'd already seen that mentioning Kujou was one of the only things that was guaranteed to set Aiko off.

She didn't dwell on it overlong though, returning to a more serious expression. "Rosea-kun. This is my fault, really. I still like you. Really, I do, but... there's a problem. Every time that I look at you now, I can't help but flash back to what happened. What your Shadow did, what he was like... It's been in my nightmares for days now. I don't know when it will stop."

Eyes closing, picturing the anguish she had been put through in both worlds, he sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just... I wanted to have you with me, so bad... you're so... pretty, Tsuruga-chan." _Like a fairy,_ he hesitated to add.

"You wanted a certain version of me", she reminded him softly, head down in penance. "I saw her. You wanted a 'me' that doesn't actually exist."

"Yes. I did."

The touch became a full grip then, and he was surprised to feel just how incredibly warm that hand was.

"Like I said, it's partly my fault. Just like you, part of the reason that I wanted to be with you... was for the status. To feel 'mature'. So that everyone would see us together, and think ' _hey, maybe she's not so weird after all if she can get together with a cute boy'."_

She shook her head at her own absurdity.

"It's obvious. We're both way too new at this relationship stuff to make it work out right. Or at least, the way we want it to." Turning to face him head on for once, she paused.

"We're still young, Rosea-kun. We're entitled to make a few mistakes, right? You said that you were serious about changing yourself, about controlling your ego, becoming a better person?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Then", she offered, "maybe, in a few years from now, when it's time for me to choose if I want to share the rest of my life with someone, and be with them forever... maybe by then... _you'll_ be that person."

Releasing his hand, she raised her new hairpin, jingling it around, and smiled sweetly at the gift. "I'd like that. But you shouldn't focus only on me, and I won't focus only on you. There's loads of other girls out there who might learn to like you, if you're honest with them."

"I... guess so." It still sounded like an admission of defeat to him, like it was something final.

 _Maybe that's necessary. Even the white hat loses the quick draw sometimes... and I can't exactly think of myself as a hero. Not any more. All I can do is try to_ become _a hero._

"It's funny", she continued in a tone suggesting the opposite of levity. "We go out to a restaurant together to try and impress people and it feels so weird. And now, I guess we can tell people we've 'broken up', right? That's another 'mature' student thing, right?"

When he said nothing back, she returned her hand to his, forcing his attention back out of his turmoil. "Friends?"

Slowly, he brightened, returning to life. "Friends. Yeah. Of course. And, about your earlier question, my answer's still yes."

He rose from the bench, some of his old fire back in him. "I'm totally on board to help you find out what happened to Furusato-san too. I mean, why else did I get that Persona if I wasn't going to use it for anything?"

"I'm glad", she grinned back, as giddy to see his usual energy returned to him as he was. "Four is better than three. We'll have to introduce you to Nijima-san when we can, see if she can find a way to get you a weapon too."

He arched an eyebrow. "Huh? Nijima-san? Wait, isn't she a police off-"

He nearly fell over. Aiko had first thought it was due to the unseasonal heat, but he recovered quickly, merely clutching at his head with one hand. "What's wrong? You need some water?"

"No", he shook, his expression suddenly more frightened than he had been when staring down his own Shadow. "No. I just remembered... I remembered something that my Shadow did. Before he went back to my Land to fight you."

Alarmed, she helped him back up onto the bench. Her touch calmed him, helped him think more clearly. "Yes, Pela-tori saw it. He went to the Karma nightclub. That was when we saw our opportunity to save you while the Shadow was busy."

"Yeah", Julian confirmed, mind whirling with new images and sensations. _Lady Scorpio. Prince Taurus. Leo. Aquarius. Masks. Salvation._

The intense fear his Shadow had felt after being completely thrashed by a Persona even more powerful. _Mithras._

"T-they know", he managed to stammer out at last. "They know everything. About Personas. Shadows. The other world. And... they're planning something. Something big. They call it 'Salvation'."

The lack of shock on her face was a welcome sight. It meant that they might not be as in the dark as he had first feared.

"I thought that something was up", she mused out loud. "How could they tell that you'd been replaced by your Shadow, and reach out to him? They knew something had happened to the real you, but they _weren't interested_ in the real you. They wanted a 'you' that wasn't even supposed to exist in this world. They wanted your Shadow, right?"

"Yeah", he confirmed in growing alarm. "Yeah, that's right. They wanted to recruit him. And that club manager, the dandy, the guy they called Prince Taurus... he can summon his Persona in this world! It owned the crap out of my Shadow too!"

His friend- ex-girlfriend, but still a friend- remained unfazed by this news. Or at least she didn't let it show. That, more than anything else he'd seen in the human world, was what impressed him. Seeing the way she had fought his Shadow, refusing to give up even when she'd been forced to take on the brutal beast solo... That memory was what he held onto now, giving him confidence.

 _So this Prince Taurus guy is really strong. So what? So is Saber. They both took on my Shadow and made him cry uncle._

 _And I'll have to get that strong too, if I want to help them. I can't be a burden. Not to Saber. Not to Tsuruga-chan. Not now. Not if they're going up against Mithras and the other ones._

"I think", he suggested, beginning to twirl his fingers out of reflex, as if they already had his twin revolvers wrapped around them, "that we should go take a closer look at that Karma club. It's showdown time."

Lips firm, she nodded. "I think you're right. Oh, and Rosea-kun? Welcome to the crew of the Dream Voyager."

 _Once I was young. Once I was frightened._

 _But now, I stand here enlightened._

* * *

 _Manan had prepared a feast meat skewers cooking on a campfire along the beach of his island. She didn't bother to ask where he'd gotten it from. Not in this world._

" _And so three became four", he observed once she was done talking. "And you were truly able to forgive that lad after everything?"_

 _Leaning back and feeling hair that had grown longer than her usual choice length pressing against the rock, Aiko stared back. "I told you. There was nothing to forgive. I was using him to feel and look mature, just like he was using me."_

" _The bond between two partners", the hermit considered as he ran one hand idly through his beard. "There is no bond more cherished than coming to completely understand another. Yet, upholding it as the ultimate goal makes people seek it out before they are ready. Before they understand what it means."_

" _We sure didn't understand", she agreed. "I still don't. There's tons of guys out there who are fun to be around, both on my crew and off of it... But I don't want to rush into things. Maybe I'm just scared of what it'll be like. Being together with someone like that."_

" _A thousand years ago", he noted in amusement, "you would be considered to be at the proper age for it already."_

" _Then I'm glad I wasn't born back then."_

" _Human society changes with time. It shifts about just as much as this place, for they are reflections of each other. But the ability to bond remains its single constant."_

" _There's another constant", she pointed out, the memories of what came next already infusing her words with bitter anger. "No matter what year it is, no matter where you are, some people just can't play by the rules. They do evil stuff in secret, disguising themselves so that no one can see the truth."_

" _The Karma Club's Masked Circle", Manan nodded in empathy, sharing in her disdain for them as well. "A group of incomplete humans seeking to attach a greater meaning to their suffering, who waged war against the wayward voyagers of dreams. You hate them, don't you?"_

 _The sea of stars continued lapping at the shore, eating away at the colorless sand as she considered._

" _No", she announced simply. "No, I don't. The Persona-users of the Masked Circle were definitely our enemies, and they were way, way smarter and tougher than any Shadow. But I don't hate them. Not after what we learned about them. It wasn't their mistake that caused the disaster that hit us next... It was **my** mistake."_

* * *

A/N: 2nd arc done. Going to be a bit of hiatus before I begin again. Been having to work a lot lately, and more importantly, we're far enough along now that I want to build up a big buffer and have a good idea of the final acts before continuing.

In the meantime, I want to hear from YOU. I feel like this story's been getting way too depressing lately and will move to rectify that and show the characters having some fun as well as doing their missions, but I'm sure there's other problems that could be addressed. I've honestly never done much in the way of romance scenes until now, and I hope the talk between Ai and Julian/Jiachi didn't seem _too_ stilted or unrealistic.

Less critically, which of the other Phantom Thieves besides Akira/Ren would you like to have a cameo role the most? I will be considerate of suggestions.

Finally, a note that one of my main ideas for Julian/Jiachi's situation was born from Lisa Silverman/Ginko of Persona 2, who also had a Japanophile father who tries to pressure her to become a 'proper Japanese woman', and she never gets along with him partly because of that.


	28. Way of Life

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _A Land Of Peace That's Built On Lies_

 _Release Us From This Dream's Disguise_

* * *

Alone in a private room devoid of light or sound, the leader of the Masked Circle did not feel the chamber's empty air or the way its lights cast the curved walls into sharp red relief.

She had already called upon the power that had come to dominate her life, blissful familiarity erasing all doubts and fears for tomorrow. Her insistence on use of her code name was as much for herself as it was for anyone else, as the name and face she had been born with now held too many bad memories and feelings associated with it to be welcome.

She had discarded that meaningless pain, and found a new face. A face that reflected back the visage of all who gazed on it... And she had found the majority were quickly repulsed by what they saw there.

She had discarded the identity associated with that pain and the disgusting weakness which had led her into it, and replaced it with a confident, beautiful new one forever clad in kimonos and other accouterments of a regal age gone by that most could only pretend to truly capture. Lady Scorpio, in her own perspective was that grace and beauty personified, as well as the personification of the special power behind the legends who once bore it.

Her Persona's name was proof enough of that, and it flowed into her now. Power and authority radiated from her mask without any to behold it, but it was enough that _she_ could feel and embrace it, enjoying the sensation for the way it felt.

However, this was only the start. Far more useful was the Persona's ability to peer past the Veil, into the shrouded waters of Faraway Lands, and behold what occurred there. The other world was beyond vast in scope, an endless expanse of water reflecting invisible stars broken up by hundreds of islands varying in size and substance.

There were colossal Shadows which swam through those turbid currents, only emerging to devour one other and grow stronger. Weaker ones clung to their islands, drawn to locuses of human thought as they emerged. Ironically, many who found their way to a more prominent Land were quickly forced into the disguising shells matching the Land's customs and themes, be they masks of flesh or metal or some other false face to present to their new master.

 _Captain Saber._

While many Shadows did not yet know of the name, there were many other who did, and gradually spreading the word about the human female who freely sailed the seas, raided Lands with her loyal crew and brought once proud Shadows to their knees.

Other Shadows, hearing that description, could still remember a time long ago when similar tales had spread of another, equally fearsome human. A leader of a ruthless band of thieves whom his partners in crime had called 'Joker'.

Scorpio found more irony here. Because a Land's Shadows could not fight each other for entertainment and had only helpless conceptions to bully, they inevitably began to share stories, causing the reputation of Saber's crew to only become stronger with each repetition.

Strong Shadows might blow it off as mere fantasy, privately telling themselves that they would easily crush such humans if they ever dared raid their Lands, while the more modest of them would remain undecided in the matter. Many of the weakest of their number had already resolved themselves to flee if they caught sight of that ship's sails on the horizon.

Finally, there were the leaders of the Lands, the cores of each whose warped desires to control everything around them manifested into power. These ones each vowed that they would never allow mere pirates to threaten their Lands.

Scorpio could sense all of this resolve and emotion. What she _couldn't_ detect was details of the crew's origin. Where had she come from? How was it that another human could have gained the power without the Masked Circle learning of it?

Her mind drifted aimlessly in the dark sea until it stumbled upon its answer. It first appeared as a cheshire grin of teeth before expanding out to form a pale face with bulging yellowed eyes.

Eyes that were looking _directly into her._

Breaking the link immediately, Scorpio grunted in repressed fury. "The Servant", she spoke to the unfeeling walls. "Always the Servant. Always leading hapless young victims to their ruin."

And that Servant had had the gall to reach out to _her_ in response _._ To suggest that they might make amends for past wrongs, and work together to heal her damaged spirit.

 _Not damaged_ , she mused forcefully, though she doubted the thoughts would reach the Servant now that her mind was fully back in the real world. _Only informed. He is afraid. Afraid that I know his true nature, and will expose the lies he had fed to unwitting humans for so long._

"One day", she gasped into the chamber walls, the mask muffling her words. "One day, there shall be a reckoning. One day, I shall see you **die** , Servant. This, I vow."

* * *

5/29 Wednesday

Evening

"I like the city at night", Reiha Hayato claimed as Tosashimizu city's lights sped by them in kaleidoscope. "Here, or over the water in Tokyo... But I'm starting to think every big city has this. The countryside just becomes a quiet graveyard at night. But this?" She smiled, the reflection of her dark, wild hair glimmering against the window. "To me, this is _home_."

Only seeming to react to the very last word, Aiko Tsuruga shifted her less passionate gaze away from the luminous stretch of multicolored lights in question. It was no Tokyo, but the marine city's more modest architecture did have a certain beauty to it as well, at least in the most crowded area around the town hall, which to her looked more like an enormous L-shaped hotel tower with the way the second half sloped down into a single floor.

It struck her as odd that their destination was here, among the highest concentration of urban buildings. The esoteric 'Bird of Hermes' and its rival gun shop, Xtriquation, had stuck to the outskirts of the city, avoiding the public scrutiny that came with a more populated area. By contrast, the dilapidated-looking shop of the purported Dr. Spica was one of the kinds of places accessible through a deceptively tiny slot in the grimy brick of a large four-story in the heart of town.

 _So maybe he's not_ quite _as sketchy as Reiha made him sound?_

 _Not with my luck._

"So you've been to Tokyo?", she asked once they were off the bus. While it might have been fun for her to imagine herself as the fancy 'big city girl' visiting an out of the way countryside so far away it was on its own island, the more mundane reality was that many of the students of Koashimizu academy- and principal Yumika as well- had spent at least some time in the big city.

Of course, whether here or in Tokyo, it was generally considered a bad idea for two girls their age to be out this late on a school night. While Reiha's harsh leather attire and pale face made her look like she belonged somehow, Aiko knew her lighter hair, formal dress and younger-looking features would stick out. Knowing that they were both capable of handling themselves if the need arose curbed her fear.

"Uh-huh", Reiha said distractedly. "I... lived there for a few years with my parents."

"Oh? Where exactly? In Akihabara, like me?"

"Nah."

Her disappointment in Reiha's sudden evasiveness fled as they stepped through the gap into a wide space with a rectangle glass counter and numerous posters depicting both marine life and medical jargon cluttering the walls. A tall circular aquarium jutting out of the wall formed the centerpiece, fish of varying sizes and colors swimming around an artificial reef that meandered around the tank all the way to the top. Opposite the tank, an enormous silver wheel lay hung across a pair of wooden brackets, swinging imperceptibly.

The scenery was so stunning in fact, that she didn't notice just how heavy the entryway door was until it slammed shut behind her unbidden, drawing her attention back to realize that it had closed on Reiha's glove.

"Oh! Are you okay?"

Reiha looked more confused than agonized though. "Huh? Oh." Pulling free, she shrugged her wide shoulders. "No big deal. One advantage to wearing these."

The sight of the gloves did little to help her inner unease; just imagining the pain brought her back, as it far too often did, to the sepia-toned Land and the feel of its ruler's vicious flames roasting her alive, the murderous grip of the claws that had held her pinned to the sands.

 _You'd think after that no pain could faze me, but..._

Eyes wincing away from the hand- and from ceiling lights that were just a little bit _too_ bright neon blue- she heard a voice faintly issuing from a door behind the counter, left ajar.

"No, no, no. That won't do. This plan is all wrong. Maybe this... AHA! That's it! Yesss! It's _perfect_! Haha! Screw the leaves, I've still got- HUH?!"

Glancing back at Aiko with obvious embarrassment, Reiha marched past the counter heedless of her hand to poke her head in through the door, revealing the figure seated at a table in the room beyond. "Doc, you really need to get a bell installed. Or at least try some volume control."

"Nonsense, Tawa. I heard you come in clear as day. I just didn't wish to turn away from my ultimate triumph."

An audible sigh from Reiha prompted Aiko to finally overcome the deep-rooted instinct not to intrude behind a shopkeeper's counter, and she poked her face out from behind the door frame as well. "Um... hello."

The man behind the door looked nothing like she thought a doctor would. He wore a riotously vibrant top button Hawaiian shirt over a modest gut, the sleeves colored even further by various things she felt better not to ask about yet. A meaty head of dry skin and hair similar in color to Mira's on both counts topped him off, bearing a bristly mustache starting to gray at the tips. A beige metal band around his neck held within it a square jewel that brought back enough memories of her old hairpin that she found herself unconsciously reaching up to touch the new one that Julian had bought for her.

Curious, intelligent eyes behind the round dark glasses he had lifted away studied her back just as closely. "Ah. You've made a friend, Tawa. I knew that you could."

Reiha turned as well, a tight smile on her pale face. "Give it a rest. She's just here for the job. But also... yeah. Kind of hard not to be."

Aiko threw up her hands in protest. "Oh, stop. You know that's not right. I have Mira-chan, you, and Rosea-kun, and that's about it."

"And Rurichiyo-kun and Samesaji-chan", Reiha teased her. "And others. If you're holding out for every single student at Koashimizu academy to not hate you, you'll be waiting a while. Better to cherish the friends that you have."

"I do", she promised. _And that includes you too._

Snapping out of a very pleased look towards Reiha, the doctor beckoned the two of them back out into the entry room, kneeling down to retrieve something from a compartment beneath his glass counter. "Tawa has a critical eye for people, girl. If she reached out to you for this, then she must really trust you. I am Dr. Raharjo Mayaha Aspicaya. For obvious reasons, most people just call me Dr. Spica."

Putting on as polite an expression as possible with how strange the portly man had been so far, she nodded back. "Um. Glad to meet you, doctor. I'm Aiko Tsuruga."

The man grimaced. "She told me _that_ as well." He'd placed the cylinder on the glass, unrolling it to reveal a map of the Kochi prefecture similar to the one she'd seen before, with various areas where land and sea met circled with marker, perhaps more than she remembered from nearly a month ago when Reiha had first floated this idea to her to make some extra money.

"I first noticed this in the waters around Ourazaki. Since then however, I've detected numerous life signs of the same type. Either I wasn't looking the right way before, or they're spreading." He paused, blinking. "Or both."

She raised an eyebrow, growing less and less certain of the doctor by the moment. "Life signs?"

"Yes." Without missing a beat, he produced several photographs, spreading them across the laminated map. "Sea flowers, to be more exact. A type that isn't documented in any scientific journal on official record."

The photos looked low-quality, yet striking despite the natural darkness of the image. The first one bore a central bud of subdued red, though more eye-catching still was the way a brighter red shade formed complex traceries along the gray teardrop-shaped petals that rose up protectively around the bud, almost like veins.

She stared out across the map with a new-found alertness, then alarm. _All of those little circles... a dozen of them here. And these are just the ones that he's been able to locate himself so far._

"I have tried to match them with every possible record of marine plant life", Spica went on, suddenly sounding more professional than his first impression let on. "Nothing matches. If this type of flora had existed in its current state more than two years ago around Japan, it would have been picked up by a JSF environment sweep, but it hasn't. It's a completely new addition to Kochi's sea beds."

"Which could be bad", Reiha explained.

"Or good", Spica noted, pressing large hands along the edges of the map to smooth them. "That's the problem, you see. We don't know enough about it yet. It could be a mutation of a previously existing sea flora, or something completely new. If that's the case, coupled with their relative growth rate... The new plant also has many qualities in common with the land plant _cortaderia selloana_ , better known as pampas grass. In other words, a weed."

Being from the densest, least plant-friendly part of Tokyo, Aiko had very little experience with gardening herself. The most condemning thing she had seen about weeds so far was the various advertisements for weed killing sprays.

 _Still, those chemical agents wouldn't exist if they weren't in demand from gardeners. They don't like weeds. Most people don't like weeds._

"But they're still flowers", she tried, expecting embarrassment to come. "What makes them any different from the other sea plants?"

"In a word, consumption", Reiha provided before Spica could make any kind of remark on their new friend's shameful lack of plant knowledge. "Weeds grow and spread much faster than normal plants. That's because they hog all of the nutrients in the soil, starving all the other plants out."

"Some of which are necessary to feed small local marine life", Spica continued, rolling his eyes and sighing. "I know that ecology isn't a major school subject these days, but this _is_ fairly basic. This new weed could cause some serious problems if it continues to spread at its current rate. Luckily, I've checked the surrounding land forms, and it's limited to the seabed of Kochi alone. For now, anyway."

That notion raised the alarm bells in her head much effectively. Working part-time at the Starlight diner had shown her just how many different Tosashimizu dishes were made from different kinds of fish and other sea life harvested from the sea. If those fish started to die off due to starvation, all the fisherman of Kochi would start to feel it.

 _Captain_ _Byzael would definitely notice. And then, so would everyone else when we suddenly can't eat shrimp and stuff any more._

"I need samples", the doctor summarized. "We need to know what exactly is causing these strange flowers to appear, and what their effects are. Unfortunately, sea flowers are much less visible to public attention than a new weed appearing on land would be. I've had no luck finding anyone else who will take this seriously, especially since they've only appeared in a handful of places so far."

Staring back at the photos, she began to feel the first real pangs of doubt. "How far down are they? I'm a great swimmer, but I'm not a professional diver or anything."

"Not deep enough to subject you to a dangerous amount of pressure", Spica reassured her. "And of course, you may borrow a re-breather mask from the lab if you don't have one already."

Aiko blinked. The need to wear a re-breather hadn't even occurred until now. "Thank you, Spica-san. But I'm afraid I can only do this for you on Sundays. I have classes most other days."

Spica paid it little mind, as though he'd expected it. "Then you'll really do it? You'll bring the samples I need?"

The eagerness on his face made her think twice, and that was enough to bring back recent memories. "I have a few questions first."

"You mean you have more questions. You've been asking them since you got here. But go ahead. I want you to be able to do this in complete safety and confidence."

Sensing silent approval from Reiha, Aiko nodded. "First, what exactly were you doing when we got here? You sounded like some kind of mad scientist doing an experiment!"

"Tsuruga", Reiha warned her.

But the doctor held up his weathered hands. "It's alright, Tawa. I suppose I can reveal this to her, if you trust her."

Reiha silently nodded, holding her breath.

"I was... doing the daily puzzle in today's paper. You know, Sudoku."

"...You're joking. All that yelling over _Sudoku_?"

"No, no, no", Spica insisted, straight-faced. "My jokes usually sound a bit more like this; 'The JSF's board of directors has some very qualified and intelligent people on it that never make me want to retch in disgust'."

"Don't quit your day job", Reiha grumbled. "Anything else, Tsuruga?"

"Just one thing. Why do you call Hayato-san 'Tawa'? You know her name."

Seeing Reiha of all people blush confirmed that this was more of a personal factor and she immediately regretted asking the question, but the doctor seemed more thoughtful than perturbed.

"Well... It's an old nickname, years back from when we first got to know each other. 'Tawa' is the onomatopoeia in my native people's tongue for laughter. What do you get when you take the end of her first name and the start of her family name?"

As realization dawned, she saw Reiha turn away, clearly embarrassed. "...Oh."

Spica smiled back. "Do keep in mind that Tawa used to be a much more serious girl when she was younger. There was a time when she would never even smile, back when-"

" _Enough_ ", Reiha intruded impatiently. "I thought you were wanting to ask more questions about the job, Tsuruga-chan. Not about me or the doc."

"As you can see", Spica teased. "Little has changed since then. And your young friend here is asking the right questions, Tawa. She wants to be sure of our character, to make sure that this isn't some kind of scam that we're pulling."

Plucking up the photos, he made an over-the-top gesture towards the door to the back room. "You are welcome to authenticate my various degrees as well, Tsuruga-san. I _am_ a licensed researcher... just not a very wealthy one. Still, you will be paid the agreed amount for this. I promise you that."

* * *

"You weren't kidding", Aiko commented once they were back outside at the bus stop. The glare of the city's lights welcomed them back, sharp and crisp as ever.

Beside her, Reiha shrugged. "Do I look like a kidder? Don't answer that."

"I was going to say 'that's why I'm so surprised when you do'." She finished, peering up at the dark sky. "He seems like an okay guy anyway."

"He is", Reiha agreed quietly, holding up gloved fingers. "I could count the number of people in the world that I really trust on one hand, and the doc is on that hand. You too, of course."

"Thanks." Despite her words, she felt downcast, silent reminders of their past trips flooding back. "Tawa- I mean, Hayato-senpai... I'm not complaining, really. But I don't feel like I've done anything to belong on that hand." _Especially when I haven't shared any of my secrets with you._

Reiha said nothing to that at first, vacantly watching as the bus arrived to take them back to the campus. Only once they were in motion again did she speak.

"It's just like I told you when we first met. I was watching from the window when you confronted Kujou, defending poor Sorano-chan, who was her favorite target until then."

Turning from the window as the downtown flashed by, she smiled. "I knew then, and when I visited you afterwards, that you weren't like the other students here. You, a first-year, stood up, even if it meant drawing attention to yourself. _That_ takes some real courage, Tsuruga. From what I've heard, you've been helping Sorano-chan out a lot since then too."

Once again feeling nervous about all this praise, she withdrew into her seat. "It's... uh, been a mutual helping thing, really. Only natural, since we're roommates."

Reiha laughed her usual harsh bite. "My roommate might disagree with that idea. But what was up with Rosea-kun anyway? The guy came back to school like he's been drinking and then looking all guilty a few days later." She paused as the bus shifted. "Actually, that does make a kind of sense."

"He _wasn't_ drinking", Aiko insisted adamantly. Now wasn't the time to share the truth. _Maybe never._ "He's still a minor. He's not that stupid. He just... went out for a while to think about some stuff. That's what he told me anyway."

"He told you that, huh", Reiha confirmed, relaxing into the seat again. "So... does that mean that you're still with him?"

She thought about that, once again considering how much could be safely shared. "No."

"No?"

The burning blush creeping into her cheeks from Reiha's tone suggested otherwise, and she turned them away. "No. He... told me that he was only with me for the status."

Reiha's eyebrows rose. "Brutal honesty, from Rosea? _Wow._ He really has changed."

Unable to take anymore questioning, she wound up rushing off the bus when it stopped on campus, eventually slowing down to let Reiha catch up.

"Better question than why you trust me", she offered before she could ask her something even more awkward to answer. "Why do you care so much about me, senpai? About who it is I'm seeing?"

That question seemed to have finally defused some of the older girl's annoyingly good cheer. She stopped on the flat grass road to the dorms, letting Aiko stop as well. None of the few people left outside on campus this late were close enough to see them, and anyone who did wouldn't care.

Reiha raised her long glove, encompassing the main Koashimizu building, then the dorms, her face stiff and blank.

"Because... I want you to be happy, Tsuruga-chan. It's all well and good for me to praise you for being courageous, for standing up to that- to Kujou, or to anyone who bullies the foreign students here. But _not_ if it costs you the chance to make friends. The teachers go on about school being the time to start building foundations for the rest of your life, and really, they're not wrong... what they don't say is that this is the time to start making friends who might stay with you as well."

It was the longest string of words that Aiko could recall Reiha ever putting together, and it left her speechless for a while, instead taking in the full scope of the school that she had chosen to make her 'home' for three years. _Knowing what I do about it now... Would I still have chosen this? Or would I have just gone to a normal high school back in Tokyo, played it safe?_

 _Of course, if I had done that, I wouldn't have met Mira, or Jiachi, or Umaeda, or Byzael._

 _Or Reiha._

No, she decided serenely. Despite everything they'd gone through, despite all the obstacles that had gotten in the way of making this place 'home', she didn't even need to factor in her secret 'other life' to dispel all doubts. _This place is where I was meant to be. Even if I made my choice out of anger back then, it was still the right one. Sorry, mom._

"What about you, Hayato-senpai?"

Reiha looked shocked by the question. "Huh? What about me?"

"You said you're friends with the doctor, and with me. But when you're at school, when you're in the disciplinary committee pretending, you have no one. I've never seen you with a boy. Or anyone outside the committee."

Far from insulted, Reiha palmed the chin of her unnaturally pale face, looking nearly normal in the light. If anything, she looked sad. "Y'see, that's how we're different. I'm used to being alone. It's the price I pay for upholding justice. I just don't want you to be. Honestly? It kinda sucks."

Even in this light, she had never seemed more stereotypically 'goth' to Aiko. It wasn't a look she was terribly fond of.

"Yes it does. That's part of why I reached out to Sorano-chan... and why you're joining me in my dorm room for dinner now."

Blinking, Reiha comprehended and smiled. "Oh. Don't suppose I have a say in this?"

"Nope!"

"Thought so."

Mirambela was there too of course, and much less shy around Reiha as they watched the TV, their honored guest preferring to eat her dinner cross-legged on the floor instead of intrude on either of their beds.

"It's like you said", she remarked once they were set. "Just because I'm not 'with' Rosea-kun any more, doesn't mean I'm not his friend. In fact, I wish we could bring him in here now to join us."

Reiha spread her arms helplessly. "Bad idea. I wouldn't test Ekuya-san. When she says 'no boys allowed', she _means_ it. You ever hear that lady yell? I swear, her lungs are a lethal weapon."

Aiko winced. Though she'd never had the displeasure of being on the receiving end of their strict-mannered dorm head, Ms. Ekuya, yet, hearing and seeing her speak to the less rule-abiding students was enough of a hint that she wasn't one to be trifled with.

"We'll just have to arrange something else then", Mira suggested mildly. "Something special to welcome him to- uh, I mean, to let him know that we still care about him."

"Good idea", Reiha yielded. "I don't know what exactly happened when he left, but it's definitely changed him. Whatever it is that boy is going through now, you can help him by staying at his side."

"That's the plan", Aiko agreed brightly. "He really isn't such a bad guy. We just... we weren't right for each other yet, that's all. He thought so too."

Chuckling, Reiha shook her head in disgust. "Sounds to me like you've already grown up more than I thought. Do you really think that your relationship's the only one at this school that was made just for the status? Half the couples I'm seeing in my classes right now will be with someone different next year or sooner. That's how it is. They just want to be able to say 'I have a boyfriend', and if he's not fun or cute anymore, they'll dump him and move on to someone else."

"I _didn't_ 'dump' him", Aiko protested. "We both agreed together that we should try meeting other people, that's all. There was no 'dumping'."

"Like I said", she shrugged helplessly. "Grown up already. Still, at least they're trying. I still think girls are smarter that way. So, are you going to Vitienne-kun next?"

Face flushing she turned to the wall. "Can we _not_?!"

Familiar sounds brought her back around to face the TV, and she reached for the volume control. "Oh, here we go. I thought you might like to watch this, Hayato-senpai."

For the first time in years, the stylish top hat logo of the Phantom Thieves graced the screen behind an attractive newscaster. Accompanying it were a number of anecdotes and interviews about the Thieves, most of them taken around five to six years ago but occasionally peppered with some more recent introspection about what _exactly_ they had been. Speculation ranged anywhere from renegade intelligence operatives to everything being a chemically-induced hoax backed up by calling cards.

 _I wonder if Nijima-san is watching this right now?_

Reiha, however... did not seem as enthused about it as Aiko had hoped. After the first five minutes of it, she stood up off the floor, even paler than her usual. "...I think I should go."

"Huh? But I thought you'd like this. You're a 'defender of justice' too, right?"

Reiha remained turned away from both her and the TV, so that no one could see her face.

"The Phantom Thieves", she whispered tersely to the window, " _aren't_ defenders of justice. They're people who were looking out for themselves who don't care about the damage that they caused. I know most people have a different opinion about them now, but there's mine. As you know, I'm used to being the outcast."

Too shocked to formulate a response right away, she was grateful when Mira took over.

"But from what I heard, the Phantom Thieves helped out a lot of people six years ago. They even had a website for people to post problems no one else could deal with. Isn't that justice?"

Gloved fists clenching up, she reached out and muted the TV before it could go any further on the stories about the Thieves' various successes.

"Justice? Sorry, but defenders of justice don't quit doing their job after less than a year. They take _responsibility_ for what they do. I never saw the Phantom Thieves take anything except credit."

Mira looked equally stunned now, the silence saying more than either could until Reiha couldn't take it any more, her eyes softening. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring the mood down. Just... you know I've been around the block, both here and back in Tokyo. So I'll tell you both straight up; you _can't_ trust the Phantom Thieves. That's my advice, and you're free to ignore it or listen to me. I'll go now."

Neither could think of anything to say that would stop her until she was already out the door, her half-finished dinner lying on the floor as if it were garbage.

"Where did _that_ come from?", Aiko wondered aloud. Mira stared blankly back at her, for once at a loss.

* * *

5/30 Thursday

Morning

In what had been a week of many firsts for Jiachi Rosea, this had been just one more that he'd never expected.

Becoming so distracted by schoolwork- _schoolwork_ , of all things!- that he failed to detect someone coming into his dorm room was something that happened to other people. Less alert people, who didn't need any welcome distractions to get them through the tedium of a textbook.

"I _told_ that idiot to close the door when he leaves", he grumbled into the threadbare pages of his 'Exploration Day' report on the Shikoku pilgrimage trail. He rarely had much to complain about his fresh-faced roommate, Mahiro Otaba, mainly because neither of them spent very much time in their dorm rooms except to sleep, but that was rapidly becoming the new sore spot.

Replacing the old sore spot of Otaba being so into his girlfriend that he came across as some level of junkie at times. _Whatever. You can't be perfect. You can only_ think _that you are. Like I did until that time..._

His unexpected guest wasn't Otaba. He was much shorter despite being a year older, black hair like a massive blot of tar winding down his face, a long bang completely obscuring one eye. Likewise, his round baby face could have easily passed for a middle-schooler. Only his posture and stern expression broke the illusion.

"Otaba-san never had to do that before", the brush-headed boy said in a near-whisper, delicately closing the door behind him as he did. "You were always so energetic that you would leap up and close it yourself after he left. Until now."

Pushing the half-finished report away, Julian swiveled around to meet him properly. "Shukiji Niyoga. The 'information merchant' of Koashimizu academy. Got something you want to sell me?"

Shukijii lay perched on Otaba's flat bed, the single visible eye poring over Jiachi in its usual unnerving way. "It's the other way around, actually. Why else would I waste my time coming here?"

He shrugged. "I can think of a few reasons. I'll share 'em with you if you tell me why you never cut your hair."

Shu snorted, pushing his thick braid of hair aside. "It's not as if I deliberately avoid cutting it. I simply... forget to do it. I have other, more important things on my mind."

"And here I thought you had a perfect memory", Julian teased. "But I believe when you say you're busy. Busy spying on everyone and learning their secrets, so that you can trade 'em off like rations." While his words reflected a distaste for the older boy's chosen lifestyle, they lacked the bite they might have had prior to his experiences in Faraway Lands.

Shukiji had seen that too. More aggravatingly, he _knew_ that he had seen it.

"You've certainly changed a lot since last I saw you, Rosea-san", he observed faux-casually. "You no longer spend quite so much of your time practicing 'cool' poses or twirling pencils or pens in those wonderfully dexterous hands of yours. More interestingly, you no longer can be relied on to predictably snap whenever someone calls you 'Jiachi'."

He folded his arms, cross but even-tempered. "I am Jiachi. I'm also Julian. Call me whichever one you want. It doesn't matter."

The single blue eye blinked, and Julian suddenly had the unpleasant sensation of being under the lens of a living microscope. "Fascinating. Even your changed posture tells me a story. You're carrying some kind of... guilt? Obviously, your time spent away from school was a life-changing experience."

Knowing now where this was going, Jiachi frowned, trying to bring out some of the old pride that had driven people away and left them wary of someone who would turn on you for dropping a mere name.

"...I had a lot of time alone to think. I'm sure you can relate, right?"

Another scoff, and louder. "Please don't insult me, Rosea. Your idea of what 'thinking' means is _completely_ different from mine. I'd think it more likely that you ran away, and returned after experiencing what it was like to live without a home."

In what he found himself glibly referring to more and more readily as 'the old days', that would have done it. He would have risen out of his swivel chair and threatened Shu with violence. Maybe even acted on it and punched him, depending on his mood.

Instead, he studied Shukiji in return, brushing the petty jabs at his intelligence aside and trying to figure out how much the older boy already knew about his brief 'vacation' from reality.

"...Maybe. Do you really think I'd want to talk to _you_ about something like that?"

Shu rose up off the bed, his eyes hungry. "Then let's talk about something else. Another major change that I noticed. Tsuruga-san. Sorano-san. Ever since you returned, you've been hanging out with those two after class whenever Tsuruga-san wasn't busy with the fencing club. You even did your Exploration day project together with them, if I'm not mistaken."

Jiachi sighed into his hands. _Annoyingly well-informed as ever._

"So what? So I made a few friends. Is that really so hard to believe?"

The older boy's gaze didn't falter. "Yes. But that's secondary to the fact that Sorano-san was another student who 'disappeared' for a period of around two weeks, and then suddenly returned to us. Another who became friends with Tsuruga-san after returning."

"I guess she's got a soft spot for people like me and Sorano", he offered, head down so his eyes couldn't give away anything else. "And as you have to know, I have a soft spot for her. Did you see her wearing that new hairpin? Hell, weren't you the first person she ever met here, dude?"

Shu seemed mildly surprised by Julian knowing that fact, though not enough to stop probing for information. "Yes. Though I doubt she considers me to be a friend now."

"Gee, I wonder why _that_ could be", Jiachi growled. Even after his recent experiences, he had little patience for Niyoga's particular brand of snobbery. The few people that the 'information merchant' considered his friends were never considered by him to be his intellectual equals, and unfortunately the boy's test scores showed that he could always back his arrogance up.

A thin-lipped smile etched onto Shu's baby face. "If she did, she might have shared what happened to the two of you with me, and then there would be no need for me to bother you this way. There is no knowledge in this world that I shouldn't have."

Leaning back in his chair so he could study the ceiling instead of the carpet, Julian remembered. Remembered all the strange sights he'd seen since that horrible day weeks ago when his grandfather, Gentaro Rosea, had died of a heart failure and a voice had reached out to him from the depths of despair. A voice that sounded so very much like own.

 _How far will you go?_

 _How much more will you willingly endure, until you can't handle the cruel reality that you're forced to submit to?_

 _Vow to me. Vow to me, and I'll deliver you from your troubles, and create a world you'll never want to leave._

Then, the other world. A world based entirely on his many years spent watching and re-watching dozens of old western films on DVD with the volume low so that his father wouldn't hear the English dialogue and barge in. A world based around his inner desires, where he was the Sheriff. _No... More like a King._

But that world was only the beginning, the facade disguising the ugly truth. The men who swore themselves in as his deputies were actually grotesque creatures called Shadows wearing shells of human skin. The citizens that were all distorted copies of people he knew, altered to be more pleasing to his perception.

The top deputy of 'Freedom City', who was actually his own Shadow and the most vile, repulsive thing he had ever seen, even worse than Shukiji or Kujou.

Then had come the revelation that this dream world of endless sand and sun was actually a tiny piece of an impossibly vast ocean whose dark waters reflected stars unseen in the sky, containing not only the Land of his dreams, but many others as well. Including the one belonging to Mirambela Sorano.

And the one belonging to Ayano Furusato. Though they hadn't actually seen it yet, they knew it was out there. More precisely, he, Mira, Aiko and the strange talking saker falcon who insistently called himself 'SIR Pelagio' did. No one else, or so they hoped.

And now Shukiji was trying to muscle into that circle of secrets.

There was still a lot that Julian had to learn, both about that world and this one. Mira had told him that simply acknowledging that was the first step towards wisdom. Time spent back in the human world hadn't changed his earlier stance that for the moment, he trusted his friend's judgment more than his own. If their secrets would be shared with Shukiji, it would be at their captain's decision, not his.

"...Sorry, dude. Afraid I can't agree with your motto there. There's some things you don't want to know."

"I'll be the judge of that", Shu grunted, barely-veiled teeth tightening up in what Julian understood to be an expression of lost patience. "I _must_ know. If you don't tell me now, then I will simply find out another way. This way, you can at least gain something out of the deal."

''Something'." It was his turn to scoff. "Like you'd have anything worth offering."

"What about a position on the school soccer team?"

"Huh?!"

Shu spread his arms. "You know who I am. You know what I can do. Coach Kurikado isn't an unreasonable man."

Freezing up for only a moment, he shook his head and laughed. _Not even in the 'old days' would I have gone along with this... at least I hope._

He could already picture it in his head, as clear and precise as the dream world he'd left behind. A star position on the team, showing off his skills on the field, scoring goal after goal... To the endless aggravation of teammates who didn't like a glory hog forced on them by a mysterious change of heart, and a coach whose duress wouldn't change his true feelings about him.

To say nothing of how Aiko and Mira might react. Picturing the looks of sad disappointment on the two girls' faces sealed the deal.

He stood. "Niyoga-san... I _know_ you think that I'm a dumbass. And yeah, to be fair, I kinda am. But even I'm not stupid enough to let you bribe me into letting this out. Trust me... It's for your own safety."

Shu's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You still don't understand? I told you that there's no knowledge in this world that I shouldn't have. I _will_ deduce the truth about where exactly you and Sorano-san went, no matter what. And when I do, I might be partial to sharing with it Principal Yumika... along with the fact that you three knew it all along and told no one."

He stared back. "I always thought that you were way too full of yourself. Having top grades doesn't give you the right to look down on other people, Niyoga. Now you're going around trying to blackmail people with secrets?"

"People who choose to keep secrets", the third-year argued simply, "shouldn't object when someone like me who is smart enough to learn them makes proper use of them to deduce the truth."

"...Get out of my room."

Julian waited several minutes before shutting the door, and several more after that to make sure he was really gone. "Shit. This is just what we need."

He reached for his phone.

* * *

5/31 Friday

After School

"So that's the deal", Julian explained from his position on the mat, Aiko and Mira- and presumably Pelagio- listening intently. "He'll prolly be watchin' us after class, trying to catch us. Genius? More like, uh, well..."

He had been pleasantly surprised to note that his request for a 'meeting' on what they were going to do about Shukiji had not been nearly so curt as he had pictured. Far from being worried, the two had turned the demand into an excuse to have a full-blown picnic on one of the grassy cliffs bracketing the southern shoreline.

The spring breeze battering the rushes seemed overpowering at first, but calmed down before long, and from here he could see a score of fishing boats all across the horizon taking advantage of the sunny day to reap the sea's bounty.

Aiko didn't look like she was letting this news- or the reminder of Dr. Spica's report- dampen their spirits either. The glumness from their hike on the pilgrimage trail was nowhere to be seen here, the fatigue from earlier dissolved. Looking thoughtful, she raised her head to the clouds.

"Pela-tori?"

"The boy of whom you speak is not here now, captain", the stuffy voice filtered down to them from the falcon overhead. "If I see him, I shall alert you."

"We' re safe for now then", Mira nodded gratefully before biting into a heavily-sauced platter of cooked natto. "Still... I've never seen him so focused. It's kind of creepy."

"I have", Aiko admitted after stretching idly. "He was determined to find out about my heritage, because he couldn't tell what it was by looking at me. I don't really care that much, but he promised me that he would find out."

"It sounds like he's forgotten about that", Jiachi pointed out. "He said that finding out the truth about us was his number one goal. Hell, I wouldn't put it past him to bribe other students into helping him with that."

Their leader made an exasperated noise. "Sometimes, I understand him even less than Kujou."

"Then maybe we should give him what he wants", Mira offered pensively. "We can take him on a trip to Faraway Lands. As long as we're super careful, it shouldn't be a problem."

But Julian shook his head. "No way. You don't get how that guy sees things. As soon as he realizes that there's a whole other world out there, he'll want to learn as much as he can about it. Even if it might kill him. Or us."

"Right", Aiko sounded regretful. "As much as I'd like getting Niyoga-kun off our backs, we can't just show Faraway Lands to anyone who asks. It's too dangerous, and we all know how fast secrets leak at this school."

Sensing his unease, she smiled back and gestured to the generous spread of food before them. "Come on, Rosea-kun. We can't expect Pela-tori to have all this."

Taking the hint, he bit down into a particularly large chunk of chicken before breaking into a fit of hoarse coughing. "U..URK! K-keh... who... the hell... made this?"

Hearing Mira's fitful giggling behind her without needing to turn, Aiko sighed. "I've been learning some of the Starlight diner recipes by watching the cooks, and I wanted to try making some myself in the dorm kitchens last night."

Terrified comprehension hit, only making the unnatural dryness that had suddenly lodged in his throat that much harder to fight off as he tried to speak again. "N-no. It's, uh... It's okay, really. Just kinda..."

Ignoring his attempt at retraction, Aiko took a bite of the container full of juicy-looking scallops, the look on her face afterwards saying more than any words could have. " _Oh._ Oh wow, really... I mean...!"

Both eagerly accepted large bottles of water from Mira's ready hands, and she watched them gulp it down with uncharacteristically wry amusement. "You told me not to give you any advice on the cooking, and I didn't."

"Noted", Aiko wheezed after finally managing to wash the overwhelmingly spicy sensation out of her throat. "Mistakes were made. Sorry about that, Rosea-kun. I really wanted to try and make something tasty to welcome you to our crew with. Maybe Pela-tori will be in the mood to try some later."

Julian stared back incredulously. "But here I thought you _liked_ him. I suppose someone has to."

"Hmph. You _are_ aware that I am quite capable of hearing all of you from up here?"

Grinning, he cupped a hand to his mouth. "We are now, angry bird! We just didn't know that you hear _almost_ half as loud as you squawk!"

"Take it easy with him", Mira advised as Aiko began packing everything except for the sauced natto pack up into their plastic containers. "We watched Alien a few days ago. His first movie experience."

"And I repeat: _I thought you liked him_."

Finishing the packing and taking another badly-needed sip of water, Aiko snickered. "We do. He's the one who helped me understand Faraway Lands when I first chased Mira-chan in there. If he hadn't been there to protect me..." She let the obvious answer hang in the air.

"Message received", Julian palmed his chin. "He's still weird though. Dude really has no idea at all where he comes from?"

"None", Mira confirmed. "He said that he woke up on one of the islands in Faraway Lands one day, not knowing anything."

"Except how to use a sword and shield", Aiko teased. "And how to transform into a boat when he touches that world's water. Speaking of which... Did you get more of it?"

Mira shook her head. "Sorry. We were all pretty distracted after we beat Rosea-kun's Shadow. I know it's probably best for us to have a bottle of it handy whenever we're going into a Land, so that Pela-tori can use it to transform as a last resort."

"The tower", Jiachi snapped his fingers, making the connection for the first time. " _That's_ how you did it. You poured some of that special water on him."

"That's right", Mira nodded, tapping her own empty bottle as if held more of the strange water. "It took him a lot longer to transform than it does when he's taking us places, but it turned out to be only thing we had that could beat your Shadow. No offense."

He threw up his hands. "Eh. Even if there was, I'd deserve it. Anyways, that did the trick alright. Guess feather bag does have his uses after all."

Something tiny and revolting dropped down a meter away from him with a wet splat. "A warning shot, boy. Keep it up, and I won't warn you twice."

"Angry bird", he muttered under his breath, ruffling his own hair as if trying uselessly to protect it.

"Anyways", Aiko let just a shade of impatience into her voice. "Trying my hand at cooking for the first time wasn't the only reason I asked you out here. You, or Mira."

"I bought all the ingredients", the taller girl explained while snacking innocently on the natto. "It would be hard to keep me out. But I didn't expect this."

Checking the far horizon one last time, either to distract herself or just because it was pleasant to look at, she sat down on the largest food container, legs and arms folded.

"There's something else to this that I haven't shared until now. Not with any of you, because I know that we were dealing with more than enough craziness already. But I want you all to know that this isn't just blind curiosity we're going on. If that was all it was, then it would be a pretty weak reason for us to keep risking our lives in the other world like this."

Julian frowned, uncomprehending. "Huh? How is saving Furusato-chan a weak reason? I _knew_ that girl last year, damn it. She was... nice. Okay, maybe a little high-strung sometimes, but nice. Even if I didn't know her, she's still human. We should totally try to save her!"

"We cannot", Pelagio explained, discarding the earlier mirth from his previous talks with Jiachi "Even should we find that girl's Land, it is far past too late. Her body washed up on the shore. She _cannot_ be saved."

"Yeah _? Says who?_ "

Aiko jerked a finger upwards. "Says him. Seeing as how her body came back and is now buried in the Sekimasae cemetary, I believe him."

Jiachi felt something hard and cold and heavy pressed against his temple before realizing it was his own hand. "Come _on._ We know that world is all kinds of weird. There's no telling what might happen if we went to her Land and rescued her. Just like you did for me and Sorano-chan!"

Aiko gave him a sympathetic look back, watching him slowly come to grips with something that she'd found every bit as distressing on learning of it.

"Pela-tori made it perfectly clear when I asked him about this. In order to leave a Land, the ruler has to _want_ to leave. Persuading them to leave, as you saw yourself, is very, _very_ difficult. With Furusato-san, it would be completely impossible. And not just because none of us know her very well."

"Says _him!_ ", Julian protested angrily at Pelagio. "What if he's wrong? What if he's just keeping you from rescuing her for his own reasons?"

He tensed up then, expecting another wet plop directly on his head, but none came. Instead, Pelagio was resting on one of the rocks near them, his fierce falcon eyes closer to abject pity now than ever before.

"I understand your doubts, boy. Believe me, I do. But I have beheld it myself. Even if it were possible to persuade her, that girl has no body to come back to in your world. Not any more. She is trapped."

"We have to _try_ ", he protested, something like tears welling up now. "We could go to one of the Lands we already know about, and try to save the ruler there! Yeah! That feudal samurai-kinda place you mentioned!"

"Placing ourselves in even greater risk?", Aiko countered sadly. "No, I believe Pela-tori. He has zero reason to lie to us, and never indicated that he might. We can definitely find Furusato-san's Land and talk to her... but we won't be able to bring her back. The reason that I wanted to keep trying to find it anyway is... so that we could tell Vitienne-kun the truth."

"Oh yeah", Julian considered. The death of Ayano had devastated Noel Vitienne, leading him to shun all contact from others for weeks.

"But things have changed", Aiko announced, face brightening. "And I'm glad. Vitienne-kun is getting better. He returned to his pastor, father Shigetsu, a few days ago, to help him after... well, that's another long story. The point is, I don't think he needs that truth to be able to live his life any more. He's _healing_. That's really all we can expect."

He drew silent then, knowing that there was more to what she was saying but not wanting to interrupt. _She looks so happy that he's getting better. Happy enough to block out the sorrow of death._

"Another reason is Pela-tori himself", she continued, her feathered protector looking off into the distance. "I promised to help him find the truth about what he is... But I can't drag you two into that if you don't want to. More, there's no telling just how far into Faraway Lands we're going to need to go to find that out. And the farther we go in, the more dangerous things get. You two haven't seen the Reaper yet."

She shuddered. Even after defeating brutal Shadows such as Bifrons and Julian's Shadow, the mere idea of engaging the Reaper's massive warship put a chill into her bones.

"If it was just that reason and Furusato, then I'd put it on hold", she mused. "As Mira-chan is so fond of reminding me, this _is_ very dangerous. More dangerous than anything we've ever done in our lives before."

"That's your fault, Ai-chan", Mira tried to joke. "For showing us just what we were throwing away by remaining there in the other world."

"Yeah. I know", she gave a shy smile. "I'm really glad to have helped you both. Already, I feel like this is the most important thing I've ever done in my life. And... we might not even be done yet."

"Of course not", Jiachi remarked. "We still got a lead on those douchebags in the Karma club, thanks to me. We gotta figure out what they're up to, and prolly shut 'em down."

"That too", she agreed distantly. "But I think it's possible we might be able to do that without ever leaving our world. We can hope anyway. There's something else as well. I've been having... dreams."

As she's expected, neither of them looked prepared to say much about that nondescript excuse.

"In the dreams, I'm on this big ship, inside of this strange room all covered in velvet. There's a man in the ship named Igor. I don't know if he's even human- in fact, I kind of doubt it- but he and his assistant have been helping me. Guiding me the whole time."

"Helping you?", Mira whispered in dawning realization. "Oh! Now I get it! That's how you keep making stronger Personas, right? I _know_ I never saw you capture that Tam Lin, or Lorelei. I would've remembered that."

"Right", she admitted. "I had to give up Anne Bonny, my very first Persona, to create Tam Lin. It wasn't easy, but she... I knew that Anne Bonny just wasn't powerful enough to handle the Shadows in Rosea-kun's Land. So... I sacrificed her and Vidofnir together to create Tam Lin. My new 'main' Persona, at least for now."

Julian frowned, remembering the shock he'd felt seeing the armored figure of Tam Lin materialize beside her. "Huh. I see why you kept this a secret. It's like a second layer of weirdness ice cream on top of the first."

More concerned, Mira pressed an understanding hand to her friend's shoulder. "I think you made the right call there. Tam Lin is really powerful. Without his skills, we probably would've lost against Rosea-kun's Shadow."

"Yep. That's what I figured", she agreed wearily. "Lorelei's pretty good too, being able to stop Shadows using magic skills and all that. But Tam Lin hits harder."

"Lorelei?", Jiachi asked. "Why didn't you just use that to stop my Shadow from using his fire? Then you'd only have to deal with his claws and the oil."

"Because he was too strong", Aiko sighed. "Stronger Shadows throw that curse off like it's nothing. I might be able to silence those Shadows too as we get stronger... but as we've all seen, that Shadow was way out of any of our leagues for now."

Briefly acknowledging the usual pang of guilt that came up whenever anyone mentioned his Shadow, Julian beckoned for her to continue.

"Back on point", she said gratefully. "Igor says that I've been chosen. That _we've_ been chosen, to stop something called a 'world regression'. Considering what we've been up to so far, I have to assume that it has something to do with more people getting trapped in Faraway Lands. He said that the more people go in there, the greater its pull on the human mind gets."

"Like a black hole", Mira suggested, trying not to show fear that analogy deserved. "The more mass it takes in, the stronger the gravity. The more gravity it has, the more mass it gets. That goes on until it runs out of mass in the area."

"Masses of human souls", Julian clarified fearfully. Suddenly, the Yume bay's waters weren't quite so inviting a sight with what they knew about it.

Clearing his throat, or at least making a noise equivalent to that with his beak, Pelagio spoke up. "From what I have heard, the rumor about the Yume bay was not widely-known until a few months back. And yet, I have found Lands in there that have existed for far longer than that, such as the samurai kingdom that the boy mentioned earlier."

Suddenly thoughtful, Aiko leaned back around to look at the spot farther along the shore where the sunlit gate appeared. "Maybe it was always there. Maybe it just didn't have that much strength until that rumor started spreading around campus. Maybe... maybe the rumor _is_ the 'pull' he was talking about."

Aiming to mend bridges, Julian gestured to Pelagio. "If he doesn't know the full story, then fat chance of us finding it. The point is, this Igor guy wants us to stop it from getting any bigger. No problem. All we gotta do is keep an eye on the gate when it opens, and make sure nobody else goes in there, right? And if they do, then we gotta save them before the tide goes out."

"An apt enough summary", Pelagio consented grudgingly. "Although recent events indicate that some other power is at work here, helping Faraway Lands to grow. When I tried to stop the boy from entering the gate, I was..."

"Shot", Jiachi finished for him, the dire memory coming into focus for the first time. "Yeah. I see it now. You were trying to stop me. Trying to help me, and then..."

"And then there's the fact that the Shadow was able to go into our world once you were in his", Mira blurted to try and defuse the mounting grief in his face. "He wouldn't tell us how, but it's another hint. Something out there wants this 'world regression' thing to happen."

"Something like the Karma club?", he suggested. "Maybe that's their 'Salvation'?"

"Possible", Aiko shook her head, unable to arrive at a complete answer. "We don't know enough about them yet. I've asked Nijima-san for a meeting tomorrow to help us figure out how to fix that."

"Makoto Nijima", Julian palmed his chin in consideration. "Who says she used to be one of the Phantom Thieves."

"Who _was_ a Phantom Thief", Mira emphasized in absolute faith. "We spoke to her. She knew things that only someone who has experience using a Persona in the other world could possibly know. Everything that she told us checks out with what happened six years ago."

"So the Phantom Thieves were Persona-users all along. And now, she's a police officer", he mused. "Huh. Funny how that works. Small world, eh? Anyway, it sounds good, I'll definitely be there."

"We should all go", Aiko nodded. "Seeing Nijima-san in person should remove any doubts you have in her. She's definitely the real deal. Maybe she'll have an idea on what we can do about Niyoga-kun, too."

"She's got to", Mira reasoned. "I'm sure the Phantom Thieves had to deal with people who hated them and wanted to expose them."

"Yeah", Julian said grudgingly. "Like jerkass criminals."

Aiko said nothing. Reiha's words from earlier clouded her eyes.

 _The Dream Voyagers aren't well-known like the Phantom Thieves were. So there's no one to hate us. Yet._

 _No._ She shook her head, casting strands of pale hair free of her new shell hairpin, a gift from Julian. _None of that worry now._

It was a beautiful breezy day, the sun was out and the water was clear, and she was able to go a picnic with friends. People who would would have been dead and gone, if not for her.

 _What else can I possibly ask for to be happy?_

 _This?_

 _This is **home.**_

* * *

6/1 Saturday

After School

Arranging a good meeting site had been far more difficult than they had first anticipated. The school dorms had been off limits for multitude of reasons, not the least of which was that a police officer showing up there inevitably drew a huge amount of attention.

Likewise, any of officer Makoto Nijima's normal locations had been dismissed as well. Text messaging was far too cumbersome for an information-sharing session like this, and Aiko remained paranoid of talking about anything related to Faraway Lands in such a method even without factoring Shukiji into it.

In the end, the final choice struck her as terribly ironic; the main food court on the sub-floor of the Tenjincho mall was perhaps the largest gathering of people in the city, yet officer Nijima had been satisfied with the choice, pointing out that no eavesdropper would hear them in a sea of scattered noise. Conceding to her experience when it came to the need for private meetings, they had agreed.

Officer Nijima had taken further measures, of course. She no longer wore the instantly recognizable uniform of Japan's police force, but a faded gray denim jacket and pants, even letting her hair down so further obstruct anyone who was looking for her, which Aiko felt made her look older than usual.

Since she had bought three freshly-made beef and udon lunches for them at the table, a casual onlooker might have even mistaken her for an unusually youthful mother of three teens. The trio eagerly dug in, not needing to worry about it being too spicy like meals from yesterday.

Once everyone was properly fed, Julian was her initial focus to begin with. Not only because of his recent trials, but because he still had the most to catch up on of all of them. He accepted everything that they told him in what seemed like tranquility, asking a handful of clarifying questions about the Phantom Thieves and the Metaverse, and only expressing his mandatory skepticism of it all at the very end.

"I loved the Phantom Thieves", he remarked to her casually, as if that were the main issue here. "I used to visit the Phan-site all the time. Even posted a request for my old man... heh. Lucky nothing came of it, I guess."

Officer Nijima gave him a grim look across the table, her red eyes glittering dangerously in the mall's artificial light.

"We received thousands of requests during that time that we didn't consider to be our business. A child complaining about a trivial matter related to their parents is _not_ something that the Phantom Thieves have any right to address. Only if it could be proven that there was actual child abuse or something of that nature taking place would we act."

Jiachi lowered his head in contrition. "Yeah. I get it. That was just me being a spoiled brat, right? I know now... my old man, he just wanted us to be safe. That's why he keeps trying to make our family as Japanese as possible, right?"

Hesitating, Nijima considered his words carefully in turn. "I would imagine so. I have yet to meet your father in person of course, but he's far from the only foreigner to resort to such methods in order to avoid standing out and inviting unwanted attention."

Jiachi smiled back impishly in an effort to relieve her concern for his family. "Yeah. He just overdoes it sometimes is all. Kind of funny how he tries so much harder at it than my mom does."

Shrugging, he clapped his hands down on the table. "Eh, whatevs. I'm over it now. Besides, from the sound of it, you guys had some way more screwed-up people on your plate to deal with than me."

"Indeed we did", Nijima agreed uneasily, once again reflecting on old memories. "I'm very glad that your Shadow's emergence into the real world hasn't given us any cause to arrest you. That would be... problematic."

"There were a few close calls", Aiko chimed in from her seat between them. "But it seems like he didn't want to raise too much of a ruckus until he was sure you'd be trapped for good."

"He was eager", Mirambela pointed out from the other side of the table, instinctively shuddering at the behavior she'd witnessed from the creature wearing Julian's skin. Aiko hadn't been alone in having nightmares about that, and as usual hers had been focused on the future; a future where the Shadow had been free to do as he wished. "Once he was 'free', I think he would have done a lot of crimes... and the police wouldn't have been ready for him."

"We certainly have dodged a bullet there, so to speak", Nijima announced to the three teens, mentally preparing herself for the storm she knew was waiting just ahead. Her hesitation was mistaken for permission to change subjects, and she inwardly cursed her own reluctance to reveal information that she knew would be taken badly.

"Mr. Rosea", she diverted from her intended path, pulling a small slip of paper from her bag onto the table. "I won't pretend to understand everything that you've gone through recently, but I may be able to provide you with the number of someone who does."

Seeing Aiko and Mira's confusion, Jiachi blinked. "Hm? Someone you'd like me to talk to? If it's Ishinagi-"

"No. Not your school guidance counselor, though it may be worthwhile for you to speak with him as well... It's the number to a good friend of mine, who may be able to help you further given your similar backgrounds. Her name is Ann Takamaki."

Hearing the name, he froze up. Mira was prepared to pick up and slack and ask who that was when he blurted out, loudly enough to draw unwanted stares: "You know Ruby Ann?!"

The policewoman shrugged in exasperation. "I suppose that is her 'stage name', though I heard she has stopped using it for some time now."

He continued staring into her almost accusingly. " _You know Ruby Ann_. And you're giving me her number."

"Because she trusts you not to abuse it", Aiko added sternly. "Riiight?"

Finally catching up to himself, Jiachi hid the paper slip in embarrassment. "Uh, right... sorry about that. Y'see, Ruby Ann is, well... I bought all her material."

"All of it?", Aiko challenged him. "Before, or after the boycott?"

"After", Julian admitted in clear shame. "But I swear it wasn't just because of that. Ruby Ann is beautiful. I don't get how anyone could really ban magazines with her in them."

"The situation was... complicated", officer Nijima considered, flashing back to when she'd first heard of the boycott. It hadn't made much sense to her then either. Interestingly, Jiachi had chosen to become the antithesis to the people who had decided that photos of top model 'Ruby' Ann Takamaki were bad for their business.

"I will say that the scandals that were spread about her... 'sexual proclivities' during that time are completely unfounded. Ann was a caring and loyal friend, even before she became a Phantom Thief."

"So she's a Phantom Thief too", he mused breathlessly, carefully tucking the paper away as if it were a priceless gem. "This just keeps getting better and better."

" _Was_ ", she corrected. Ann Takamaki _had_ been a Phantom Thief. Now, she was an ex-model trying to break into the acting business. And being unfairly snubbed there too, if what she'd heard from the others was any indication.

"Rosea-kun", Aiko offered them "we're getting off track here. You should tell Nijima-san about Prince Taurus."

Nodding, he leaned back in his chair. "Prince Taurus. Otherwise known as Chunliblanka Samesaji."

Nijima blinked at the name. "Excuse me?"

"Not the time for jokes", Aiko remarked in mild annoyance.

"...Sorry. _Ryuken_ Samesaji."

"The chief manager and recruiter of the Karma nightclub", Nijima recognized. "The club's actual owner is a recluse, an older woman named Lady Scorpio who always wears a mask in her few public appearances. No birth name provided."

Matching the titles together, she frowned. "Lady Scorpio is certainly a unique figure in Tosashimizu city from what I have seen, but her eccentricity is well-known. We found no hints of anything related to Personas or Shadows during our previous investigation."

"I guess they prolly hide it good", Jiachi said more seriously now, focusing in on the elusive memory. "All that I remember is, that guy summoned a Persona in this world. He _owned_ my Shadow."

"'Owned'?"

"Uh, sorry. I mean to say that he beat my Shadow up."

"Ah."

Considering his words, Nijima noticed the others looking at her expectantly. "That's something that the Phantom Thieves never saw. While our Personas all became stronger over time, none of us were ever able to summon them in _this_ world. We'll have to be very careful around Samesaji now."

"I think that Scorpio might have one too", Jiachi said. "I mean, that only makes sense if he's working under her. Why would he be her hench-guy if he's more powerful?"

"Lady Scorpio and Prince Taurus", the officer mused, palming her chin in deep thought. "We must hope that they haven't completely filled out the entire Zodiac pantheon then. _Twelve_ experienced Persona users would pose an extreme threat, even to the national guard."

"I don't think so", he replied, trying to ease her worries. "I only saw the two of them together in the dressing room. Besides, if they're really that powerful, why would they hide?"

"A good point", she said. "I hypothesize that only the highest-ranking members of the Karma club would possess the power. Possibly as a symbol of their rank, assuming of course that they have the ability to unlock the Persona of whomever they choose to."

"There was another one that they were talkin' about", Jiachi provided, though those memories were hazier than most of 'his' time spent at the club. "One who left them. Queen Aquarius, they called her."

Nijima's eyebrows inched up, acknowledging the irony in that particular name. "Hm. A fellow 'Queen', and another Zodiac. I will make sure to pull up the records of their previous managers or heads of staff."

"Good thinking", Aiko beamed, excited that they already had such a strong lead on finding out more about this new enemy. "What was it that you said they were talking to your Shadow about?"

Jiachi grimaced. Those memories were also unclear, the brutal hits that his Shadow had taken that day only making them more jumbled. Recalling details about them was difficult, no matter how much he concentrated. There was however, one detail that jumped to the front of his mind.

"They said... that they were going to bring humanity 'Salvation'. Whatever the hell that means, I have no idea. Sorry."

Officer Nijima digested this information as well, trying to envision the scene in her mind. Scorpio and Ryuken Samesaji. The Shadow cowering on the floor of a night club dressing room after numerous strikes that had shattered a mirror.

"Salvation... It can mean many different things to different people", Makoto remarked sternly. "The meaning of the word was originally intended to be a positive one representing one's release from plight or turmoil. But its most common use these days, particularly out of the mouth of a clandestine leadership such as this, is as the nebulous goal of terrorist groups."

None of the three Voyagers even tried to hide their alarm at that. JCAP felt like a stifling shroud of hatred draped over their lives sometimes, but everyone there knew that there were far worse groups out in the greater world. Groups who used guns and bombs and deadly gases to murder people wholesale, regardless of their nationality or origin.

"It's a commonly used terminology, or rather mis-used", she explained sadly to the three teens. "During my college courses, I was forced to study in detail the warped ideologies that these groups profess, and the brutal methods that they employ. In some ways, they are really no different from any local Yakuza branch. However, while the Yakuza are normally content to stick to their own businesses- as ghastly as _those_ may be- the strongest, most ambitious of the radical groups often promise to bring their brand of 'Salvation' to the entire world."

"It's all an excuse", Mirambela piped up for once, the aching look on her smooth-skinned face speaking of personal, and painful, experience. "An excuse to do whatever they want. To kill and steal."

Nijima regarded her sympathetically. "Oh. That's right, your home country is near the 'territory' of the Legion of Light, isn't it? Recent reports indicate that their influence and numbers have begun to dwindle in the last few years, but they certainly remain a threat to many people."

"A cornered animal is the most dangerous kind", Mira commiserated with her. "My older brother, Mabaju... he was shot several years ago, before I moved here. But papa was able to save him."

"I'm glad", Nijima gave the girl a tight smile back. "Back on the subject of our current enemy, I won't be able to use that term to connect Karma to a terrorist group. Salvation is only a word. Especially using unreliable testimony."

Jiachi wasn't offended by that appraisal. "Yeah, it's not like I can come out and say that it was my Shadow who walked into the Karma club and heard them say all this. Normal folks don't even know what a Shadow _is_."

"But _we_ know about it", Aiko reminded them, forcibly jubilant. "We know they're up to no good. It's like Nijima-san said; the only people who ever talk like that have some kind of scheme in mind. They _knew_ about your Shadow, and they didn't say anything to the police."

"Neither did we", Mira pointed out calmly. "Because we knew they wouldn't believe us."

"They are certainly suspicious", Makoto affirmed. "Even before this, I heard many rumors, and I had a well-informed friend follow up on them. I found it very strange how so many of their staff and top performers turned down higher-paying jobs to keep their current one. Some of them even dropped out of college, just so they could continue to work there. I've never heard of a mere nightclub inspiring that kind of loyalty before."

Aiko's eyes lit up. "You don't think... maybe the reason they're so loyal is because the club granted them Personas?"

"Hm. Unlikely", Nijima pointed out to their immense collective relief, slowly ticking off the reasons on her fingers.

"The majority of the staff there are rather young to be at a club to begin with, a few having just graduated high school. If they had _all_ been given Personas- Personas that could be used in the real world like Samesaji's- then it would only be a matter of time until one or more of them started showing it off to their friends, or using it for personal gain. People _would_ eventually catch on, and trace it back to the club. So far, we've seen just the opposite; they've done an excellent job of keeping a low profile about that until now."

"Prolly just the managers then, like you said", Jiachi nodded. "Still, we gotta watch out. We can't use our Personas in this world- I already tried calling Wild Bill- and I'm assuming you can't either."

"That's correct, Mr. Rosea", Nijima looked suddenly weary. "I once had a Persona as a Phantom Thief of course, but we can't summon them here in the real world. Only in the Metaverse. Or 'Faraway Lands', in your case."

"We'll just have to be careful", Aiko claimed. "We can check around Faraway Lands, maybe ask some of the Shadows what they know about-"

"I'm sorry, miss Tsuruga", Nijima cut her off regretfully. "But I'm afraid that won't be possible."

" _Huh?"_

It couldn't be put off any longer, or she would burst. Makoto took a deep breath, and regarded each of her young guests now that they had each finished their meals and were looking at her expectantly, wondering what came next.

"I aided you earlier because Mr. Rosea was in grave danger, and you were the only ones capable of saving him before time ran out. The Karma club is obviously up to something, but the real danger remains that gate of green light that appears at the Yume Bay when the sun meets the water each evening."

"This is true", Mira agreed cautiously.

"And that is why... to prevent such a thing from happening again, I have ordered a police cordon to be placed on the Yume Bay area. No one else will be lost to that other world on our watch."

Disciplined eyes carefully analyzed the three faces, three different reactions to her words. Relief in Mira's rounded face. Surprise and shock on Julian's more athletic features. And Aiko-

Their normally reserved young leader just looked like she'd been stabbed in the heart.

"But, but Nijima-san... That means that we won't be able to enter the gate either!"

The older woman regarded her severely. "Yes. I know. I know you said you wanted to try to find the Furusato girl as well, but if what your friend said is true, then it is impossible to save her now."

She wanted to shout back, wanted to argue that decision further, and that feeling must have been easy to see in her face as well, because Nijima continued talking heedlessly, using a worn smile to try to soften her bitter logic.

"Believe me. I realize that it's difficult to accept. However, our duty must be to those still living. Not to the dead. We will, of course, continue to investigate the cause of miss Furusato's departure as well as the Karma club's illegal activities... _Without_ your assistance. You understand?"

"No." Aiko stood up from her chair, pouting, her gaze never leaving Nijima's. "No, I don't understand. I thought that 'we' meant _us_. We can help you, Nijima-san! We can save people, just like the Phantom Thieves did six years ago!"

But Makoto only grew colder at that suggestion, her words bitter.

"The Phantom Thieves acted to stop criminals protected by society before they could hurt other people with their greed. You, on the other hand, are asking to _continue_ to risk your lives, entering an unknown dimension full of perils as dire as the Metaverse if not more, just to satisfy your own curiosity in this matter."

She shook her head sadly. "No. I'm afraid I can't permit you to do that any more, Tsuruga. Not any of you. Not as an officer of the law... And not on my conscience as an adult."

Then it was Julian's turn. Cinnamon brown eyes burned accusingly into Nijima's as well, the shame that he'd carried with him like an anchor for the past week forgotten for the first time since then, along with the previous gratitude he'd felt towards her.

"If you're telling us the truth about all this, Nijima-san... Then you were prolly around the same age as us when you were running with the Phantom Thieves. And it sounds to me like the other members were about the same, right?"

"Correct again", she admitted, refusing to back down, or let the flood of fond memories overwhelm the here and now. _Ann. Ryuji. Yusuke. Futaba. Morgana, Haru..._

 _And Akira-kun._

"That's right. We were all just teenagers then. We became the Phantom Thieves to fight criminals who directly threatened us, and those who we cared about. We _didn't have a choice_. You kids _do_."

"And what if we make the choice to keep exploring Faraway Lands?", Aiko demanded, her anger- _Saber's_ anger- shining through as she hammered every word. "I. Made. A. Promise!"

"And is that promise worth your life, miss Tsuruga?", Nijima countered her with equal vigor. "Or the lives of your friends here? It's as I said before, when we first met. The Palaces we went to were the most dangerous locations I've ever seen, every bit as hazardous as these Lands that you've described to me. Looking back on it, we came close to failing, to dying, so many times... It's not right. It's not _natural_. Not for people your age to have to go through that, when you haven't even graduated from high school yet!"

Neither of the ones who had challenged her spoke further, but neither one of them looked satisfied either.

"Look", she tried again. "The ultimate goal of the Phantom Thieves was to reform society. While I admit that things are far from perfect right now, we successfully eradicated the primary source of the world's distortion. We did it so that kids your age wouldn't have to risk their lives the way that we did back then. Don't you see that?"

"But there's still criminals to be fought!", Aiko said, pleading now. "Hex is proof of that. If the Phantom Thieves can't fight them any more, then that's fine. But don'tstop us from doing the same thing! Not when there's still so much more for us to discover and learn!"

It was those words that made Makoto finally lose patience. Her tone was not exactly angry, but it _was_ final and permitted no further arguments from any of them. Her trademark braided cornrows had been untangled years ago, giving way to a more voluminous, messier haircut that reminded a few people of her big sister more than herself.

"Tsuruga-san. You still don't understand... There are some things out there in the abyss that we don't _want_ to discover. Particularly by risking the lives of three fine young people such as yourselves. I'm going to have to ask you to return the weapons that I gave you, just to be safe."

Neither Aiko or Jiachi moved at first, only focusing again when Mira began putting her daggers and model gun into Nijima's empty duffel bag.

"We should do as Nijima-san says", she asked them, refusing to look them in the eye. "She got them for us, but now we have no use for them. Rosea-kun is safe."

She could taste the tension spilling into the air from the other two, to say nothing of the resentment... But in the end, they silently yielded at well. Aiko's flintlock pistol and her twin cutlasses joined Mira's weapons in the bag, which Nijima proceeded to zip shut. It already felt like she had erased the weapons with that simple gesture.

"I'll make sure to wipe them down thoroughly before returning them to the Bird of Hermes", she promised. "I'm only trying to keep you kids safe and protected, now that the crisis is over."

Aiko gave her a weary, defeated gaze back as they prepared to leave on a simultaneous realization that none of them wanted to be here any more. "I wasn't aware that the Phantom Thieves saved people by keeping themselves safe and protected, Nijima-san."

Makoto stared back, not budging. "Please go, Tsuruga. Go back to the campus at your school and study. Live the life that you're supposed to."

That, to her immense relief, was enough to get them to give up and leave, Mira giving her a fleeting glance before following the others out of the food court. Only once she was certain they were gone did she lean back and slowly exhale.

It hadn't been easy. Nor had she expected it to be.

Believing in what she'd said didn't making bearing the look of betrayal on Aiko's face any easier, and poor Jiachi had looked like he'd been told his birthday was canceled. Putting up with the very worst tantrums of the criminals she caught or witnessed in court was easier, because she didn't consider them to be anything close to friends. There was no bond there to betray, and no pain as a result.

Offhandedly putting away the leftover food, Makoto raised her phone and called Akira, who would understand. As he always did.

* * *

Persona Profile #1: _Anne Bonny_

Legendary Irish pirate who operated in the Carribean's golden age of piracy and perhaps the most famous female pirate of all time. Initially disguising herself as a man, she joined the crew of her eventual lover captain 'Calico Jack' Rackham and built a reputation through sheer ferocity and cunning.

Arcana: Fool

Strength: Water, Light

Weakness: Wind

* * *

A/N: Hey folks, happy new year. I'm back, and no, this isn't a swan song for this story even if it kind of looks like that. As I said before, I was initially concerned about making the remainder of this story **too** dark overall, and after several rewrites and re-considerations of the major arcs I think I've achieved a better balance. Of course, you will be the final judge of that.

To that end, I tried to make this opening chapter as lighthearted as I could before we start to plunge back into the darkness. Additionally, I hope to be able to include a Persona profile or Shadow profile for each chapter now, emulating one of my favorite Persona Let's Players, Destroyer229, who would often fill his commentary with historical facts pertaining to Personas in the games.

Hoping to be able to get back to a biweekly update schedule soon, hope you enjoy story arc number 3.


	29. Road Less Taken

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _We Cannot See The Way Ahead_

 _Can't Run Clear The Path Of Dead_

* * *

6/1 Saturday

Evening

She thought that it would feel better once they were out of the suddenly stifling air of the Tenjincho mall. Safely away from officer Makoto Nijima's infuriatingly logical stare and denials that they could look after themselves.

It didn't. A silence had settled down on them all like a giant shared weight, only growing heavier when Pelagio wheeled past overhead on the street.

"Ah, captain. You were inside that mall for a long time. I hope that your meeting with officer Nijima was a fruitful one?"

Nothing. She had nothing. She could say nothing. Nothing fit.

"Captain? Is something the matter?"

Nothing.

"Captain? Saber? My lady? _Aiko_?"

In a daze, the three of them plodded into the nearby park, where Jiachi took one final look around to make sure Nijima wasn't following them.

"She shut us down", Aiko finally found the energy to give some kind of form to her grief. "I... _trusted_ her. _We_ trusted her, and she _shut us down_. She... she **betrayed** us!"

"She took away their weapons", Jiachi explained for an extremely confused Pelagio's benefit. "She's going to have the Yume Bay area blocked off too, so that we can't go in the gate any more."

Perching up on a bald statue head, Pelagio remained unreadable as ever, only the tone of his voice showing how this news was affecting him. "I... do not understand. Why would she forbid us from continuing?"

"She said it's too dangerous", Aiko grunted into wet grass, inwardly amazed at the searing anger she was feeling towards someone she had considered their best ally up until now. "Like we're just some amateurs who just gained our Personas for the first time. If she'd only _seen_ Rosea-kun's Shadow, seen how powerful that thing was, and how we took that bastard down...!"

"She did the right thing."

The others stopped and stared, hearing those words. Mirambela looked embarrassed enough to die.

But neither would she give up, trying to push back against her friend's accusing gaze with the anger that had helped her against Shadows before.

"Please don't hate me for saying this. I think Nijima-san is right. We're too young to be constantly fighting for our lives like this. We're supposed to be going to school, and... and trying to figure out what we want to do with our lives in the future!"

Aiko was naturally more gentle with Mira than she was with others, but even Pelagio could tell she was hurt by the suggestion.

"But we gained this power. How can we just sit back and not use it? If I'd done that earlier, if I'd given up, both you and Rosea-kun would be..."

"I'm not saying that it was the wrong thing to do", Mira implored them with wide eyes. "But now, no one is in danger from the Yume Bay any more. Nijima-san and the other officers will make sure that no one else goes in there. The danger is over. The 'world regression' has been stopped. We won. It's over."

"And what about the Karma club?", Aiko asked. "We know that they're connected to it somehow."

"Nijima-san will expose them and have them arrested", Mira claimed heartily. "I have faith in her."

"I did too", their leader snarled back. "Once. She's the only one on the police force who knows the truth. She's going to try to handle that all alone, instead of letting us help her like we _should_ be doing."

"She was a Phantom Thief", Mira said patiently. "She must have friends, allies who can help her out with that. She won't be alone."

" _But we're her friends too!"_

Stomping a shoe down as if he'd reaching his own breaking point, Jiachi regarded them both.

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure that Nijima-san is a kind person. Way kinder than most of the adults I've met, I won't deny that. But she's still an adult. She doesn't see us as equals. She sees us as kids that she needs to protect. Never mind that you girls beat up a monster that would make adults piss their pants and run away screaming."

"More than one", Mira mused, thinking back to their previous battles, particularly the giant snake which had come after them in Julian's Land. "But she's right. We should just focus on school for now, and let people with more experience handle this."

Exhaling to try and release some of her fury before it scared Mira any more than it already had, Aiko instead gestured over at Pelagio. "What about Pela-tori? If we stop investigating Faraway Lands, we'll never know where he came from, or what he really is."

"I know. But that's still not worth us risking our lives to find out." She bowed a fervent apology to Pelagio, who actually seemed less aggravated by the idea than Aiko.

"Ai-chan... We will never forget what you did for Rosea-kun, or for me. You saved us both from our despair, and you freed us from the false worlds designed to trap our minds. You showed us that life is still worth living in the real world... And now, we value those lives too much to keep putting them on the line this way."

 _Coward._ The horrible thought intruded for several seconds before Aiko banished it.

"I must confess my curiosity about my origins in Faraway Lands", Pelagio offered carefully, fluttering down into the grass so that they could all see the reservation in his piercing raptor eyes.

"However, if the journey to that lost knowledge is truly so perilous as to place our lives in danger, then I would not be so selfish as to demand it of any of you. I will be content to merely remain at your side, captain, and keep you safe from harm. That is all I have wished for."

The vitriolic silence returned. Aiko was staring back at Mira, gentle, meek, peaceful Mira, who seemed all too eager to let someone else take the pressure of decisions off their hands... and then realized that all three of them were anxiously looking at her now, waiting to see what _her_ decision would be. While they had all expressed their opinions in complete honesty, none of them wanted those opinions to drive any kind of wedge into their bonds.

Burying her face in her hands, she raised one of them to try to indicate that they could all go back to the dorms now.

"...I'll think about it."

A thick, insistent rain began to fall as they left the park together.

* * *

6/2 Sunday

Morning

She was still thinking about it a day later.

Not exclusively, of course. Just in the times when she couldn't find anything to distract her from that momentous decision. It might have been an excellent day to be in class, and be able to give her absolute focus to any lesson, even Ms. Mattora's or Mr. Niyoga's dry lectures, to the exclusion of all internal debate.

Thankfully, there were more pleasant options for self-distraction around as well.

The reef spread out before her had no name on record, not being significant enough to merit it. She knew that it was half an hour's bus ride away from the city and dropped away very quickly into a deep, sun-limned pit that no human eyes could penetrate until they were submerged.

Spreading her arms wide for a dive felt like some form of ritual release, closing her eyes until impacting the surface and blasting down beneath it, the pressure and buoyancy simultaneously rejecting and sustaining as it pressed against her body. Warmth in the morning sun as it reflected off the surface and into the depths below. Nurturing. _Home._

 _Only, is it home? I thought home was wherever Mira and Julian and Pelagio are. Or maybe it's that dull condo back in Tokyo where my mom is._

 _Not home,_ she decided, quickly opening her eyes and regaining her bearings to dive deeper in. The re-breather was a bit large for her mouth, but it served its purpose. _It just makes me feel comfortable, like home is supposed to. If this were my true home, then I would be a fish._

As if to demonstrate, a tiny spit of a cod glided past her vision and towards a mossy cluster of pockmarked rocks. Taking it as a sign, she began to explore around the most plant-heavy sections, coming up for air when needed.

There was enough seaweed down here to fill up a truck, but they weren't what she was looking for. After the fifth trip, the cod swam away, and with it her earlier confidence.

 _Come on, now. The chart said it was here. Well,_ around _here somewhere. Maybe deeper in?_

Surface, breathe, dive.

Further out past the shallow rocks there was another bed of packed-looking sand that didn't seem to hold very much of importance besides the occasional sign of marine life, even smaller than the cod. Past that however, the bed became a rounded slope, dropping even further down into the deeps. And at the bottom of that slope...

Surface, breathe. Going up again made Aiko realize how far away from the coast she was getting, but the brief sight of the bright colors on the rock shelf that anchored the bottom of the slope was enough to try again for.

They hadn't vanished after last time. There was seaweed here too, but not enough to completely choke out the less common plants. And then...

Then there were the plants even rarer than that, if Dr. Spica was to be believed. Only a handful clustered around a hole-ridden bump in the shelf, but they clearly matched the photos she'd seen. Circles of four or five rising petals that looked like colorless slabs of shale, protecting the tiny centers masquerading as lumps of coral. Along each of those petals, thin spiderwebs of bio luminescence, red the dominant color but others branching out into every other shade.

The fish and crustaceans and every other life form in here stayed far away from them. That in itself was proof that these flowers were something else entirely. Something new to a world that they had developed instincts for every other aspect of, falling back on caution when something came along they hadn't spent millions of years adjusting to.

 _Jackpot. Just have to get down there and try to get one loose._

Unfortunately, this proved much more difficult than it appeared. While the strange sea flowers were clearly young and small, their roots were still buried deep enough into the softer parts of the rock that actually pulling them out took more than the strength of someone who had to expend most of their air just to get down this far.

 _Surface breathe, dive..._

After three more attempts, she gave up. Swimming was a natural talent for her, and she had an impressive lung capacity to go with it, aided by the re-breather- eight minutes if she pushed it- but she now understood why Dr. Spica had never attempted to do this himself.

 _A shame. I guess he'll have to hire a professional diver if he really wants to get his hands on it._

The less strenuous act of swimming back to shore gave that idea time to expand and compete with the multitude of other nagging voices weighing in on the grand debate.

Mirambela wanted out. That much was obvious. It was exactly as she had said; freeing her from the misery that gripped her for so long had given her back the ability to cherish life again. One that she cherished far too much to constantly be taking the risk that her family might never see her again. She would be completely fine if they never even spoke of it again, kept it as a buried memory shared between them.

Standing in direct opposition to her was Jiachi. His recent experiences had wrought some big changes in him, true, but it would have taken much more than that to eradicate a thrill seeker's nature. Like so many of the younger male students, he found most of his classes at Koashimizu to be boring trials to be endured between periods of finding new ways to have fun. Without soccer or fencing or anything else to fill the void between them, there was little he could do to hide his eagerness to join the latest voyage out into the other world when the chance presented itself.

While it was possible that such a trip might diminish his enthusiasm about it once he got to feel the kind of hideous pain that Shadows could dish out, she rather doubted it. He had already witnessed battles against Shadows up close and personal, and he knew exactly what kind of risk he was volunteering for by going with them. The only thing she could really fault him for there was his overconfidence, a belief that they would never be defeated.

With Pelagio abstaining, the decision was left to her. Just as it had been when it had seemed impossible for them to find the weapons they needed to survive Jiachi's Land.

 _Just like when I was going to give up on trying to save Mira, and let her die._

She didn't need to consider for long how she felt about this new decision. The initial searing anger towards officer Nijima wasn't quite as sharp as it had been yesterday- anger was usually like that- but her answer and her feelings on the issue remained the same.

 _I want to continue on._

 _I want to keep on exploring, and seeing what else is out there in Faraway Lands. Just like only professional divers can go into the deepest parts of the sea. It's exploration that only Persona-users can do, and the ones who run the Karma club don't seem very keen on exploration... just_ exploitation _._

 _Does this make me just as reckless and overconfident as Jiachi?_

 _Maybe._

But she couldn't deny that belief's existence either. Anne Bonny had taught her better than that. To deny those feelings was to deny herself.

As she returned to the shore, further consideration got pushed aside again by another distraction that was still welcome, even if a surprise that had her staring blankly up at the figure lit by the early sun, the re-breather hanging out of her mouth and dangling alongside her wet hair.

"Hayato-senpai?"

The older girl smiled, reaching down with one gloved arm to help haul her friend out of the water. "I knew you'd at least try it", she remarked as a way of explanation. "And this spot is the closest one to the campus."

Sniffing the water out of her nose, Aiko turned back towards the sea and frowned. "If it's not the deepest one too, it might be a while before we get any samples. I can see the flowers, but they're too deep down to reach easily."

"You look pretty beat", Reiha admitted, offering the towel she'd left nearby. "I just got here when you were going down the last time. Brought lunch too."

The sensation that was aching her joints now couldn't properly be called hunger, but energy was energy and another welcome distraction on top of that. "Um. Thank you. I'm surprised that you came out this far on a hunch."

"A correct hunch. I also wanted to apologize", Reiha shrugged nonchalantly. "I got the sense that we kinda hit a bad patch last time. I know perfectly well that most people my age think that the Phantom Thieves are cool. Not the first time I've gone against the grain. I'm used to it."

Midway through drying off, Aiko narrowed her eyes. It wasn't hard to pinpoint what might have changed her own opinion about the Phantom Thieves between the last time and now. _You can't trust the Phantom Thieves..._

It couldn't be called hate, not even close. But the more she thought about it, the more accurate Julian's earlier appraisal of Makoto seemed.

"I know. I wasn't thinking very much either. I just assumed everyone who wasn't a criminal didn't like the Phantom Thieves."

"The police, naturally", Reiha pointed out, unaware of the irony in that statement. "But that's all in the past. Nice try, even if you couldn't get any this time."

"It's frustrating", she confessed in irritation. "Being so close to it. Dr. Spica is right. They're _definitely_ not normal flowers. They're recent. Has he tried taking this to a bigger organization, someone who can hire some real divers to pick those up? I'm not exactly a professional or anything."

Reiha gave her a pitying look. "He did. Brought it before the JSF actually. _And_ the EPA. Both times they turned him down. They think he's another Fukurai, y'see."

She didn't, actually. "Huh? What's a Fukurai?"

Reiha looked disdainful. "Oh, come on. You come from Tokyo and you don't know that? Yuichi Fukurai, a master con artist. Ex-head of the ADP, the 'Assembly of Divine Power'. Turned himself in and confessed all his crimes six years ago, considered another 'success' by the Phantom Thieves."

"...Oh."

She had the distinct impression that Reiha was trying not to sneer. "Hey, credit where due. The guy was a real bastard. He made more money off scamming people, exploiting their superstitions, than either of us will make in our lives. But now the doc's got a similar rep attached to him, and he can't seem to shake it. Maybe chalk that one up to JCAP's influence too."

"So they don't believe him", Aiko considered regretfully. "Maybe if he wasn't so..."

Just a second too late to stop herself, to consider what exactly she was saying and avoid Reiha's pitying look.

"Wasn't so _what_ , Tsuruga-chan? Eccentric? Madcap? Weird? Everyone at school thinks that _you're_ weird. They think I'm weird too. Like Niyoga-kun says, normalcy is overrated."

"Except when you're trying to get a group of other scientists to trust you, apparently", Aiko remarked, though her tone was apologetic.

Reiha barked a nasty laugh. "Scientists? If more than half of the people on the JSF's board of directors are actual scientists, I'll eat my gloves." Softening after, she glanced out at the open water. "At least, that's what the doc says. He calls 'em leaves, 'cause they always blow with the wind."

"He would have spares in case he lost that bet", Aiko joked back. "I just wanted to know the reason he left something like this to a high school student."

"Because adults would demand more money that he doesn't have", Reiha smiled before taking on a more reserved expression augmented by her pale face. "Seriously, though. It's because he trusts you. Don't get me wrong- the doc hates people. Never goes anywhere if there's a big enough crowd. Individuals, though, he can learn to like. I owe him a lot, actually."

"'Tawa.'"

A shudder of exasperation ran through her body. "Yes, enough to even forgive that nickname. Please don't use that. It's embarrassing enough when he does."

Comprehending her tone instantly, she nodded compliance. _I certainly wouldn't want anyone calling me 'Crybaby Ai' any more. 'Aiko the Psycho' is bad enough._

Reiha seemed to sense where her thoughts were going just by looking at her too. "Right. The other reason I stopped by is that Kujou is going to have someone tape your dorm room door shut tonight."

It wasn't the realization of the prank itself that made her pout, but merely Benihime's dogged persistence that infuriated her. "I've been here a whole two months and she still won't give up trying to get me?"

"Because _you_ still haven't given up", Reiha explained with a helpless shrug that did nothing to hide her inner admiration of the younger girl's resolve. "The awful rumors online and on campus, the pranks... You never let any of it get to you."

"Because _you_ keep tipping me off so I can avoid them", Aiko smiled back at her gratefully. It wasn't fun to imagine how she might feel if she actually had been successfully hit by each of the disgusting mockeries. An 'accidental' food fight targeting her, a pelting of tampons, several attempts to deface her locker, and now this.

She might have almost considered giving in, giving them the public meltdown they wanted, just to make it finally stop.

But not quite. In fact, the more effort Kujou and her friends put into breaking her, the more satisfaction she got out of avoiding each pitfall, and the more resolute she was not to let any stress show.

 _And the less effort she puts into tormenting other students who don't have my advantages, like Mirambela._

Still, her tired sigh felt reflexive at this point. "I _so_ do not have time for this juvenile crap any more."

Not when she had to worry about things like Faraway Lands and the Karma club. About the future of their little team, if there was to be one.

"If it helps", Reiha encouraged her, "Kujou is getting just as upset by this as you are. It's actually cost her some of her friends, the way she's been constantly obsessing about beating you. Tastunoko-kun has started a vote to select a new head of the SDC."

Another sigh, this time one of relief, coming across almost like a swoon. "I always knew that boy had a good head on his shoulders. Do you think...?"

"You'd have to get in line", Reiha informed her. "No offense, but I doubt he'd be interested in a first year."

"Rosea-kun's a second year", she protested. "That's only a one year difference."

Of course, she knew that the real obstacle was much more than a matter of age. Kohru Tatsunoko wasn't only an incredibly handsome third year on the student council, but someone who constantly exuded an air of strong self-discipline about him that suggested little patience for any kind of nonsense.

Which made it all the more puzzling to her that he had put up with Kujou for as long as he had.

Even more than Shukiji or some of the other more mature third year boys, Kohru gave the impression that he was already an adult in many ways beyond the physical. Naturally, girls from every year and class gushed over him endlessly, and Aiko had to admit that if she hadn't had so many other things on her mind, then she would have been a part of that crowd as well.

 _Handsome and he knows it. Doesn't let it go to his head though, which of course makes him even cuter. A boy like_ that _would be absolutely perfect for our team, but he'd probably blab to Yumika instead._

Realizing just how feverishly warm all this thinking about Tatsunoko was making her, she shook it off. _What was it I was just saying about not having time for stuff like that right now?_

Still, it had given her a new idea.

Once she'd changed behind the rock, she faced Reiha anew. Reiha, who had come to her from the very start and offered to help her by warning her of the pranks in secret, and who had even gotten her the very side job she had just attempted and failed. Whose only motive seemed to be wanting to see her be happy.

If she couldn't trust Reiha, who could she trust?

"Let's go back to the mall", she offered, sounding as if it wasn't a spur of the moment decision. "Anything you want to do there, we'll do. My treat this time. And after that... I have something I want to share with you."

* * *

6/2 Sunday

Afternoon

Days like this, she decided, was what malls were invented for.

Aiko had witnessed at an early age that there was a certain sensation of heady freedom that lay in the kind of reckless spending that she normally fought to hold back from. The feeling was euphoric- doubly so with friends along for the ride- and she had seen it overpower the will of others her age.

It had been impossible in Tokyo's malls, having never had an allowance. Only now that she was away from her mother and given her own income could it be done. For today only, the Tenjincho mall would be their personal playground, catering to their every whim. Face painting, hair salon, lunch, massage, trying and buying new clothes, arcades... until finally they were both feeling fatigued enough to stop.

On reflection, she calculated that she had just blown through just over three weeks of pay and this month's money from her mother. She was, however, proud to note that the money earned from fighting Shadows and exploring Faraway Lands had not been touched.

 _Not that we'll need that if I decide not to continue. Guess we can use it for a group vacation at Cape Ashizuri since it technically belongs to all of us equally._

Which brought her back to the present. Out of some niggling superstition after last time, they had avoided staying in the food court, instead taking seats at a table on the second level overlooking it.

Staring a face newly-patterned with brilliant multicolored star marks contrasting with her usual paleness down into the pit, Reiha raised a cup of some kind of juice, doing an excellent impression of someone who was slightly tipsy. "Ahh... urp. Here's to the man who invented the double chocolate crepe."

Raising her own cup up in response, she laughed back. "And here's to whoever invented Masala Chai tea."

Slamming down her cup in mock outrage, Reiha raised an eyebrow. "No fair! You're still young, you should be into ridiculously sugary carbonated drinks, not tea."

"Masala Chai tea with two spoons of sugar. And chocolate syrup mixed in if I'm in the mood."

"That's _better._ " Finishing up, she cast an eye across the spread of the mall, then back onto Aiko's smaller form, clad in a new dress, dominantly white to contrast her black. "Gotta say though, for someone who eats as much as you do, you're in excellent shape. Is your fencing club really that good?"

 _Here we go then. No turning back._ "I... get some good exercise in at night. Actually, that's why we're here."

Reiha raised a brow, not comprehending. "To get exercise? I mean, I know there's a rental gym here and now's the perfect time to work off the calories, but..."

"N-no", she stammered awkwardly. Of course Reiha would know about that kind of thing. Between the school gymnasium and whatever else it was she did, her arm and leg muscles looked like liquid rock beneath their leather coverings most of the time, only accentuated by how tight they were.

"I wanted to share something with you. Something important. Please listen to me, and... no more jokes until the end, please."

Regarding her with a mixture of appreciation and real, unfeigned curiosity, Reiha leaned back, arms folded. "I promise to try."

Aiko took a deep breath.

It was much easier once she got started. One thing led to another in a flow that only stopped when she had to stop and drink some of the tea. Against any other ideas she might have had for how to get her points across, it inevitably resolved to the same abbreviated form as Bartholomew had used to explain to her the stories of Tartarus and the Midnight Channel as well.

She kept all mention of Makoto Nijima and the Phantom Thieves out of it completely.

When she was done, Reiha took an exhaustively long swig to finish her own drink, giving her time to brace herself for mockery, for accusations of drug use, for a complete rejection of everything she had just said. No matter what happened next, the sensation of invisible weight leaving her was unmistakable.

Taking several minutes of silence to formulate a reply, Reiha regarded her carefully, tapping the side of her left eye with her index finger. "It if was _anyone_ else except you who told me that, I'd say that your medication isn't working. But it fits everything that's happened this year perfectly. Better than any other reason. The rumors. The disappearances. The people who came back with a changed perspective on life. Your amazing talent at the fencing club."

Her eyes widened at the flattery. "You know about _that_ too?"

"I asked Umaeda-sensei how you were doing", Reiha explained hastily. "He likes you. No surprise, since you're the one who helped him restart it in the first place."

"And I like him", she confirmed, beaming. "I wish I could be in his regular math classes too, even if he coughs a lot. He'd be way better than Noriyama."

"...Does he know about this?"

"No. No teachers. Only me, Rosea-kun, Mira-chan, and-"

"And the falcon who talks to you", Reiha finished, her face expressing all the skepticism that notion deserved. "And transforms into a boat in this 'other world'."

"Okay, I know it sounds crazy, but-"

"Yeah. Several hundred miles past crazy", Reiha agreed, smirking. "But sometimes the world is crazy that way. And like I said, it makes more sense than any of the other explanations I've heard. Suddenly, Sorano-chan is standing up for herself. Suddenly, Rosea-kun is no longer acting like he's God's gift to the world. Welcome changes, both times, both for us and for them."

Aiko stared into the hands draped over her legs. They felt shorter than usual next to Reiha. "I hope so. It wasn't easy, either time. And now... I don't know if we should continue with it."

"The police have blockaded the Yume Bay", Reiha murmured. "Reasonable, since all three disappearances were around that area."

"Yes", she acknowledged. "Hopefully, that will stop anyone else from entering Faraway Lands. But that's not our next target. If we decide to keep going, anyway. Next target is the Karma club."

The older girl's eyes narrowed. "Now there's another place that's had a lot of nasty rumors swirling around it. For example, I heard that before the current management took over and renovated the place, it was an S & M club."

"Huh? What's that stand for?"

Reiha broke off into light laughter at that. "Sorry, Tsuruga. It's amazing to me that after all you've seen and done, you're still so blissfully innocent in some things. It's, uh... complicated. Let's just say that no one our age would be allowed in there."

"We're not supposed to go in there _now_ ", Aiko pointed out. "I mean, I know that some under age students still go in there, keeping it a secret from their parents and teachers, but..."

"And either they have good fake IDs", Reiha carried on, "or else the club just doesn't give a damn. Either way, they're definitely suspicious."

Exhaling, she nodded. "So, do you think that we should keep going? That we should investigate that place, even if it might be dangerous?"

"Hold up", Reiha halted her with a gloved hand. "I didn't say that. I don't quite get everything you've told me, but it sounds like you can't summon those Persona thingies of yours here, right?"

"N... no", she confessed glumly. She dearly missed being able to do that- being able to vault across distances and eviscerate Shadows on her cutlass and use magical skills- more than she would ever admit to anyone, even Reiha.

"Meaning you'd be just as helpless as anyone else if they caught you. And Rosea-kun said that they have Personas of their own, and they figured out a way to summon them in the real world, right? That would be like trying to take on a fuckin' modern army with sticks."

Aiko sagged back in her chair. "So you're saying that we shouldn't act?"

"I'm saying, think it through. Still way too many unknowns by the sound of it."

"I... see." Knowing that the dejection gripping her heart wasn't Reiha's fault did nothing to stop it. _Of course it's not. You wanted an absolution, didn't you? Someone you respected to make the decision for you, and lift the responsibility from your shoulders._

 _Idiot. This choice is yours to make, no one else's._

"I'll check it out", Reiha broken into her recrimination. "I look older than I am. I can pass for a guest, and even a showgirl applicant if I really need to."

The words alone, truthful as they might have been, set her alarm senses ablaze, and Aiko shook her head in fright. "No. Please don't risk that, Hayato-senpai."

A rude snort answered her. "Oh, so it's okay for _you_ to take that risk, but not me?"

"I've seen Personas and Shadows", she argued anxiously. "You didn't know they existed until I told you. If they found out that you're investigating them-"

"They'll do what? Kill me? You really think they could get away with that?"

"They got away with nearly killing a Shadow who looked like a human", Aiko maintained, remembering what Jiachi had said. "And whatever it is they're doing to their staff to keep them in line, it's probably against the law."

Quietly acknowledging the danger involved, Reiha glanced over to the northwest, as if she could somehow peer through the concrete and brick of the mall and the other buildings and see the club from here. "Wait, is that why you took that part-time job at the Starlight? So you could stake out Karma?"

She chuckled back. "I suppose that would sound pretty impressive, like I had a plan all along", she considered. "But no, it's just a coincidence. Actually, I heard the rumors about the club when I applied for the job. As soon as I said I might go work there instead, the owner relented and let me sign up with him. I guess that was my first clue that something was off about them."

"Then let the cops handle it. It's their job."

Of course, it was easy to see that line was merely for show. Reiha had never been one to trust in authorities at school or otherwise. She hadn't even needed to tell her anything about Nijima yet to figure that out.

"They checked, and found nothing."

"Of _course_ they found nothing", Reiha nodded. "You don't even know what it is they should be looking for, do you? What crime could they possibly charge? The crime of having Personas? Of beating up a Shadow? You'd all be guilty of that too."

Pausing, she shook her head. "The crime of knowing that Rosea-kun had been replaced by his own Shadow, and not telling anyone. The crime of trying to recruit that Shadow, instead of reporting it."

"But those aren't crimes", Reiha reminded her forcefully. "Because they don't know about that stuff. There's _zero_ laws regarding the trafficking of Shadows. If what you're telling me is true, Personas are more dangerous than guns, yet there's no laws banning them. It's uncharted, unmapped territory we're dealing with here... in more ways than one. Until more people are willing to accept that it's real, the police won't be able to help us there."

"And.. are you?"

Reiha snorted in amusement. "If this is actually a fucking prank, then it's the most elaborate one I've ever seen, and whoever thought it up _deserves_ to see it through after all this time and preparation. I'd like to see it for myself, of course. It sounds amazing."

Aiko smiled, eyes shut as she reflected back to the various scenery of Faraway Lands. If you put aside all the dangers, it really was a visually astounding place. An ultra high-tech forest where floating walkways took people and robots where they wanted to go. A sepia-toned western town, old-fashioned rail lines spanning a vast desert. The dark sea of stars, backlit by the orange light of the afternoon's demise. All of it lying through a gate of brilliant green light that parted the water before it.

"It is. I'd love to show it to you, but we can't right now."

"Convenient", Reiha teased before becoming serious again. "Then let me do this for you instead."

"No." Before she even realized it, she found her hands reaching out to grip Reiha by the tips of her gloves, as if afraid that she was going to fly away never to be seen again.

"No. Please, senpai, _don't_. We don't know what they can do. If..."

 _If something happens to you._

 _If it's something I would have been able to deal with._

 _If they turn out to be more than we can handle._

 _If._

Surrounded by the images of potential disastrous futures, she came back to reality in time to see that in pulling free of her grip, Reiha had accidentally spilled her drink. It wasn't tea like hers, but a boiling hot espresso, the spill emitting stream as it splashed across her lap.

But there was no sudden yelp from her friend, no flinch of pain. She merely looked down, let out a mild curse, and began to clean it up. "No big", she blurted, sensing a frantic apology coming on. "My fault."

"If you say so", she muttered, not caring about her words so much as how it was that Reiha could be so uncaring about what had to be a painful coffee burn. Or how she'd been so calm about practically crushing her hand in a door a few days ago.

Standing back up, she gave a wan smile. "If something happens, you'll know. The worst they can do is kill me, right? And that's only if I screw up."

"No! Why are you so...?" _So reckless? Like Julian?_

 _No._ A chill ran through her arms and she let go. This was a different kind of recklessness, different from Jiachi- or her- being too confident in their success. This went beyond Reiha placing her needs below the needs of others, as a 'defender of justice'.

"Hayato-senpai", she tried again, dead serious as well now. "I want you to promise me right now that you won't try to infiltrate the Karma club."

The older girl looked offended, and for a moment Aiko thought she might refuse until her hands dropped back down to the table to grab the cup. "...Alright. I promise. If it's too dangerous for me though, I don't think you should either."

"We'll do it together", Aiko promised back, fighting off the images of Julian and Mira and Pelagio getting hurt that suddenly assailed her. "All of us who know how to use Personas and fight Shadows ourselves."

Brightening, Reiha nodded. "Good. If all four of you watch each other's backs, it should be fine. Assuming that talking bird is as loyal as you say."

"Believe me", she rolled her eyes, "he's been so loyal that it's kind of annoying sometimes. He doesn't like when I go indoors, because he can't see me there." _Then there was the time when he attacked Byzael out of paranoia. Good thing he got over that._ "Still, I trust him completely."

"You trust a talking bird", Reiha observed glibly. "Well, I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different. I just didn't know how much until now."

"I am, aren't I?" _And I wouldn't trade it for anything._

* * *

6/2 Sunday

Afternoon

The seemingly inexhaustible June rain appeared to be finally weakening as Noel Vitienne approached the abandoned-looking temple, though the general consensus was that this was merely a gap before the downpour would resume, stronger than ever as it drummed against people's roofs and windows.

He had to confess a certain horror for that kind of rain. One situation which had always spurred him to remedy it by whatever means he could was the feeling of being alone in a building while cold, heavy rain poured down, a machine gun noise that only called further attention to the fact that he was alone. As though he were the very last morsel trapped in a container which a giant beast sought to reach.

Were it up to him, no one else would ever have to experience that particular sensation, and so he ignored the lack of exterior lights and powered through the front door into near darkness beyond. However, the one person he expected to see among the benches and altar was gone.

"Father? Father Shigetsu?"

He'd started to get worried by the time he saw the robed figure standing outside, knelt down and thankfully in a spot covered by the building's awning so the rain would not reach him until it resumed full strength. The grass outside looked moist, but the man's bronze cane looked equally sturdy in it. Still, Noel found himself unconsciously preparing in case his pastor fell.

"Father", he called once more, glad to see the man's quick response. Whatever else might have happened, he had not lost his wits yet. Hopefully. "Why are you out here, father?"

Turning, the man gave a pained smile back. "Is that not obvious, my son? I'm gardening. I'm making sure my barricade is secure against the rain, so that the soil is not flooded. Even for plants, too much water can be fatal."

Following him, Noel noticed the set of small, foot-high wooden blocks that had been set up to form a protective rectangle around a fifteen-foot patch of soil running alongside the temple.

"Gardening, father?"

"I was sitting there in my temple", the priest noted pleasantly without looking back. "Bored out of my skull, if I'm to be honest. Wondering how I might repay the girl who saved my life."

"Wondering...? Who?"

"You might not know her", Shigetsu acknowledged, smiling slowly. "She was not a part of our lost flock, but a friend of miss Samesaji from what I understand. An angel who hauled me free of a dark pit. Now, you and her are the only ones who come to visit this place. I've been hoping to introduce you."

Noel paused, uncomprehending. Returning to the shrine had caught him up on what had befallen the man since then. _While I was off feeling sorry for myself over Furusato, my pastor was dealing with something far worse._

Considering what had already befallen Shigetsu, feeling guilty over not being there for him felt inevitable. That guilt had kept him coming back whenever he could, though apparently not enough to spot this other girl who had been helping... or to spot the small garden his pastor had been building up until now. He was just as surprised to see a rain barrel off to the other side of the building, junky-looking but functional.

Spotting his gaze, Shigetsu nodded towards the raw unpainted wood. "I won't need that for a while, but I'm glad to see it works. Put it together myself from scraps."

"You've been busy, father", Noel said with new admiration.

"The Lord did not give us limbs so that we could sit idle", Shigetsu remarked back, tapping his cane against the barrel for emphasis. "One door closes, another opens. I could sit here in my lonely shrine and bewail the fate which has befallen me, or I could seek out some other way to make myself useful."

Easily recognizing the paraphrasing, the blond boy sighed. " _Es tut mir leid_. If I'd had the same inner strength as you, I would not have left you when you needed me."

As expected, there wasn't a hint of reproach in the man's reply, nor the hand clasping his shoulder. " _Du wurdest mich nie verlassen._ Sometimes, personal troubles can seem too great to bring into this place. But I am here for you now, child. Speak. Tell me what has befallen you since last we saw each other."

Despite everything, he felt himself brightening up. Even to the death, Shigetsu was a natural for the role of parish, receiving any confession someone cared to give without judgment or bias, and usually able to provide more wisdom than a mere quotation. Remembering all the times he'd seen this made it seem all the more incredible that he'd refused to bring his recent troubles in here.

"You're... sure the garden doesn't need you right now?"

Gesturing to the rectangle of soil and the tiny green sprouts visibly coming up through it, he beamed. "Long ago, when I first arrived here, I was told that the soil around this shrine had been blessed by the Kunitsukami. Until now, I never gave the idea much thought, but somehow, the seeds I have planted are already showing signs of growth here."

"Perhaps they sense your frustration", Noel replied without any hint of teasing. Others, he knew, would have scoffed at the notion or merely remained politely quiet.

"Perhaps they do", Shigetsu considered as they returned to the shrine and the rain began to pick back up. "Perhaps they sent that girl to me as well. You really should meet her, since you two are now my only visitors."

Sitting down on the main dais with his leg folded and the cane positioned across it as if in meditation, he stared back into Noel and nodded. "I sense you've been through just as much of a trial of faith as I have in these last few weeks."

"Not even-", then Noel caught himself. Shigetsu never failed to make him look foolish, but it was the good kind of foolish. "...I would say so. Do you remember the girl I talked to you about before?"

"Of course. Ayano Furusato, wasn't it? Charming girl. You seemed very taken with her."

"I was. And now, she is gone."

Freezing up as he processed then, he regarded Noel with grieving eyes. "Gone? Just like your-"

"No", he quickly corrected, trying not to be led into even older memories. "It was not like last time, father. Her death was not my fault this time. At least, that is what I believed at first."

Concerned, Shigetsu ran one hand along the length of the cane, never losing his focus on Noel's eyes. "At first?"

"Yes", he said, wondering not for the first time how much he could really share, even with the man he trusted the most in the world, who was more of a father to him than his own. "Later on, I visited the hospital. The doctors were all trying their best to raise her, but all in vain. An older woman visited me there. She said..."

The priest waited patiently for him to finish the sentence, and Noel suspected he would wait to the end of days if he had to. _No going back._

"She said that Furusato-san had lost her soul. That it was trapped forever in a dream world. She also told me that it was a world Furusato-san could have only entered if she had wanted to."

To his relief, Shigestu's face remained free of any hint of mockery or humor. "Another world, you say... who is this other woman you spoke of?"

"Cecille Yumika", Noel explained, grateful to have the hardest part- the opening- done with. "She's principal Yumika's younger sister, though they don't get along well. She normally teaches at a primary school here in the city."

Grasping for any degree of levity to brighten things up, he walked over to take a seat next to his pastor. "Though she was very quick to let me know that she got that job entirely on her own merits, not her brother's."

"Of course", Shigetsu nodded back gratefully. "And do you believe her? Do you believe that there is another world that your friend was lost to?"

Staring up into the windows being pelted with rain, he felt his fingers knotting together. "Yes. I do. Because, father... Cecille also showed me some things. Things which I have never witnessed before, which support her claims... and yours."

Eyes widening in shock, the priest turned his head to face him. " _My_ claims?"

Noel smiled back wryly. "You can't tell me you've forgotten. No one else believed you. And... To be honest, father, I didn't truly believe you either, until I saw it for myself. The demon that you spoke of. The one which took your leg."

The reaction was much more restrained than he'd expected, possibly because on some level, Shigetsu had begun to believe that he had hallucinated it after all. _Difficult to hold onto a truth that only you accept._

"The demon", he repeated numbly into the carpet. "The monster who..."

"From what I have learned", Noel said, "they are called Shadows. And they normally dwell in that other world."

"Then why", Shigetsu whispered quietly enough that the sound of the rain nearly drowned him out, trying to stand before remembering himself and grabbing his cane just in time to prevent himself from falling. "Why did they appear here six years ago? _Why?_ "

The imploring noise echoing in the empty temple ended when Noel stepped around to help him up. "I do not know. Not even Cecille knows... or at least she was unwilling to tell me. She's very secretive about these things."

"I can understand why", Shigetsu agreed sadly. _Years spent unable to make any listen to the truth, and at the cost of so much._ "However, I hope to be able to speak with her myself some day."

Noel shrugged uneasily. "She doesn't want me to share this with anyone else either. If she hears that I told you, well... I don't really know, do I? There are still many things I don't yet comprehend about the other world."

Which stopped his sudden curiosity as quickly as it had come, reverting back to his normally reserved self. "I understand. We can't risk anything happening to you. For now, it's enough that you and I know the truth."

"For now", Noel agreed, trying to sound more upbeat than his sudden exhaustion allowed. There was so much more he wanted to discuss about the other world, most importantly what it _meant_ for them... but not at the expense of his pastor's health or anything else.

"If ever you are feeling threatened by that woman", Shigetsu pointed out. "Or by Shadows, or anyone at all for that matter, you will _always_ have sanctuary here. But enough of such talk."

Rising once again, and properly this time, he regarded Noel with a calm that didn't quite hide the new shine in his eyes. "Instead, please tell me of my son."

* * *

6/4 Tuesday

After School

"Akechi Mitsuhide", Mirambela murmured into the dry dorm room air.

Her essay on the famous historical general was now complete with a final stroke of her pencil, but as always, her thoughts on the subject continued roaming on long after they had been committed to paper.

That was probably the reason why history was her best subject. She never ceased to be fascinated by the men and women from so many different countries and eras, and the choices they each made, which could now be viewed and analyzed by her retrospectively like some omnipotent observer.

Which wasn't to say that she enjoyed the number who inevitably became entangled in some awful war, or all too often singled out for persecution by a powerful ruler. The legend Oda Nobunaga's insults and threats towards his general Mitsuhide remained documented even to this day, and considered to be a part of reasoning behind Akechi's eventual betrayal of his warlord at Honno-Ji.

It made her wish she could travel back in time, and truly understand what drove men to such mad displays of power and arrogance. Or at least comprehend what truly drove the Legion of Light's leaders, so she might figure out how to stop them from taking more lives.

 _A natural death is tragic enough, yet some always seek to cause more. Why?_

 _I don't get it._

But then there was the sneaking undercurrent of it, the worry that if she ever actually managed to understand the warped mentality that drove people like that, then she might become more like them. If that was the trade, that she was fine with being kept in the dark.

Aiko's entry interrupted her musings. Her roommate had been very busy in the last few days, always finding places and people to visit after school. Mira respected her enough not to entertain the suspicion that she was doing it in order to avoid her after their disastrous meeting with Makoto Nijima.

Still, the stiff look on her friend's face stirred those unspoken fears.

"Welcome home, Ai-chan", she nodded, packing up her paper for Saturday. After the incident that had driven her to Faraway Lands, she no longer risked writing her assignments electronically, even if the grand majority of students did. "How was the fencing club?"

Aiko's smile felt distant and distracted, but enough to soothe her fears. "It was fine. We got some new people joining up to replace Rosea-kun. Two boys and a girl, all second-years."

Mira gave an impressed noise. "That's six now, right? Umaeda-sensei must love you."

The smile faltered. "Oh, come on. I really don't think they're joining up just for me. At least, I don't _want_ to think that. We're not some kind of freak show here."

"Of course not", Mira agreed quickly. More than anyone else, she knew how sensitive her friend was to that kind of implication. The idea that people were only joining up so they could see 'Aiko the Psycho' in her 'natural environment'.

If any part of that notion was true, it was the final one. At times, she'd been forced to stop her friend from pantomiming the fine details of her lessons with Umaeda; swordplay and violence held no real interest for her, and she could only pretend otherwise for so long. Pelagio would be willing to listen forever, but that could have been because of his loyalty or genuine interest in the subject.

Collapsing dramatically onto the bed to get Mira's attention, Aiko began to stare into her friend's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction to the next words to come: "I've decided."

Naturally, Mira's first impulse was crippling fear. Fear that this day would come, and fear that the decision would be made against her. Aiko's own impulse was to shut down the conversation right there, or maybe lie about the decision, but those worries were squashed easily enough.

"I talked to Hayato-senpai. I told her everything."

Naturally shocked, Mira stood up from her chair. "Whoa, seriously? I thought you said we shouldn't share this with anyone."

"I said we shouldn't share it with Niyoga-kun", she corrected. "They're different. In fact, she took it even better than I thought. She didn't call me crazy even once. More importantly, she didn't demand that we take her to Faraway Lands... not that we _could_ , now."

"No", Mira agreed, trying to mask the relief she'd felt seeing the yellow police tape and orange wooden blockades around the Yume Bay. It was no mere gesture either; she'd seen that there was always at least one cop on duty there, making sure no one got in.

"But she did say we should go after the Karma club."

"Oh." Disappointment, worry, the vision of discovering one day that her friend was gone from this world... "Did you agree with her?"

Reluctant to make the final reveal, she leaned back into the pillow. "Not right away. I wanted to hear opinions from everyone I trust before I decided. I didn't tell the secret to anyone else. I had to use analogies with Umaeda-sensei and captain Byzael."

"And?"

Aiko shrugged in apology. "Sorry Mira-chan, but they said yes too. And you can probably guess what Bart-kun said."

"The assistant of the long-nosed man who lives in your head when you sleep", Mira remembered out loud, hoping that the ridiculousness of the statement might give her friend a reason to doubt Bartholomew's words. "Can I meet him, some day?"

"Of course you can. Name a day, and I'll ask him." Stretching, she returned her eyes to Mira's smooth-skinned face. "In the meantime though, I've decided. I've already texted Rosea-kun about making our plans. We're doing it."

Mira tried not to let despair crush her into the dorm room floor. Her friend deserved more than that, after all she'd done. "...I see. Will you at least tell Nijima-san before you do?"

True sorrow and regret stained the younger girl's face now. _Can't trust the Phantom Thieves..._

"Sorry, but we can't do that. If we did, then she would act to stop us. Maybe even make an excuse to keep us under watch after class."

"Then don't do it", Mira pleaded with her, drawing closer so she would see the expression of terror in her eyes better. "If you have to keep something a secret from Nijima-san, then you _shouldn't do it!_ It's too risky!"

"I'm sorry", her friend muttered regretfully, eyes lowered until they were overshadowed by hair. "I've already made up my mind. We're the ones who have the best chance of shutting the Karma club down. If we do nothing, who knows what they'll get up to? We know that they're trafficking in Shadows. I don't like doing nothing and hoping for the best, Mira-chan. Not with you, not with Rosea-kun, and _not now_."

"Cheap shot", Mira accused, momentarily at a loss for what to say that would make her friend reconsider this suicide mission. "So much for the unanimous agreement rule."

Aiko shook her head, alternatively imploring and dismissive. "That was a Phantom Thief rule, not a Dream Voyager rule. But... we won't make you do it if you don't want to. I understand, really. All we ask is that you don't tell Nijima-san that we're doing this."

"And what if I do tell her?", Mira argued back tearfully. "What if that's the only way to keep you safe from yourself? Don't you get enough adrenaline rush at the fencing club? Do you _really_ need to keep looking for more trouble out there?!"

Suddenly feeling like Pelagio in her phrasing, she nodded back sadly. "I'm not looking for trouble. Trouble is looking for us. The only decision to make is if we meet it on our terms, or theirs."

"It's not our fight, Ai-chan. It's not our problem!"

"No", she said more confidently. "It's everyone's problem. We're just the only ones who can do anything about it."

"Nijima-san can. The Phantom Thieves can."

 _You can't trust the Phantom Thieves..._

"The Phantom Thieves didn't help you. They didn't help Rosea-kun. They didn't help Furusato-san. They're retired, remember? They did what they had to do six years ago. Now, we're doing what we have to do. We can't pass this off on them. It's our responsibility."

The look on Mira's face suggested that was very much what she wanted to do, and Aiko rose off the bed to meet her outstretched arms. She looked taller, ganglier than normal, but Aiko didn't feel it was much of exaggeration that she knew more of her true feelings than anyone outside her family. _And even then..._

"Mirambela Sorano. You're still my best friend. Please don't cry. I'm not asking you to help us if you don't want to. Just... don't stop us. We'll do our plan, and after that I'll tell you everything we learned, and we can go from there. We'll even tell Nijima-san after if you want. 'Let's think positive'... Okay?"

Mira could say nothing. Her eyes were shut, her head withdrawn downwards.

"Okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, okay. Promise."

She didn't want to tell her that the feel of wrongness was still there.

* * *

Persona Profile #2: Galahad

A knight of King Arthur's Round Table fabled for his celibacy, and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail. The illegitimate son of Lancelot, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity as the most perfect of all knights First appeared in a 13th century French Arthurian epic called the Vulgate cycle.

Arcana: Strength

Abilities (so far): Frei, Lunge, Praesi, Rakukaja, Mafrei

Strength: Nuclear

Weakness: Psychic


	30. Nothing Is Promised

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _The Enemy's Face In My Gaze_

 _See Their Wish To Rend And Raze_

* * *

6/6 Thursday

After School

With one hand drifting around as if at random, the aging owner of the weapons shop Bird of Hermes stuck an index out towards a clean, slim-looking pistol, its gray reflecting off his monocle. "That one."

Jiachi followed his gesture to the weapon, surprised but not deterred that he had to think about it for a moment. "DD44 Dostovei. Russian weapon invented in world war 2, but never got finished. Spetznaz finally finished the design in 2012. Good velocity for piercing body armor, high customization."

Snorting to indicate how unimpressed he was, the owner pointed to a black bowl shape with straps hanging down.

"United Shield Sprint operator helmet", Julian met him without hesitation. "Standard issue with various SWAT team analogues until around 2010, when it started getting phased out in favor of stuff made of lighter material after it got proved to caused long-term neck problems. Still gets used sometimes by countries without the budget for something better."

"...Yes. And what is that for?"

Seeing the man indicating the wide slot running along the front of the helmet, he nodded. "Universal night vision goggle mount. Duh."

Stepping out from behind the counter, the man reached over to touch a tan-colored blade hilt connected to a wooden sheath, pulling it loose for his guest to see the thick black polypropylene streak running along the length, separating the two sharp edges into reflective lines. "And this?"

Julian frowned. The 'specialty knowledge' he'd been so eager to make use of once he'd learned of his friend's earlier predicament was mainly in guns and the various types of armors created to blunt their power. When it came to swords, he was more than a little rusty.

"Well?"

Racking his brain, he nodded. He'd almost panicked until recognizing the curves and the iconography on the hilt. "Chinese Wushu broadsword. Thin and flexible."

Raising his brow in interest, the weapons shop owner halted, letting Jiachi think for a moment they were done before stepping again and pointing at a large assault rifle on a shelf behind the counter. "What about this?"

 _Now_ he was completely lost. Parts of the weapon looked familiar, akin to some types of American weaponry, but others didn't match any design he knew. "Um... sorry. I can't tell."

Far from bearing the superior victorious smirk that Aiko had told him about, the owner instead stepped back and shook his hand. "That's only to be expected, since it was one of my custom jobs, still being worked on, perfected. You pass, young man. My name is Walter, and I am the proprietor of this fine shop."

Relief flooded him until he couldn't form words. Several times he'd worried that he would fail this test, that he would have to head back with his head hung low and admit that even he couldn't impress this aging shop owner enough to convince him to let them make purchases here. It wasn't difficult to picture the look of disappointment on Aiko's face, or the was Pelagio would express the affirmation of his claims that he wasn't able to pull his weight without needing to say anything at all.

 _I will hold my own. I have to._

"Only models, of course", Walter clarified quickly. "I can't sell you anything live unless you show me a license, and you don't look old enough for one."

"That's fine. I just wanted to buy the models anyway."

The monocle flashed in the store's light. "Very good, sir."

The incessant rain outside did nothing to dampen his spirits as he made his way back out into the alley, where Aiko sat pressed against a wall, a dull white umbrella held over her head.

"Too big", she complained to no one visible. "I keep banging it into walls. Maybe I should've asked the owner for a recommended size. Too late now."

"Hmph. Why?", a familiar voice filtered down to them from above. "Certainly, they would understand and be willing to exchange it for a smaller one, yes?"

"Yeah, but it'd just be awkward to explain to someone."

"You're heading into an evil nightclub and you're scared of an umbrella shopkeeper?", Jiachi commented, joining her and patting the duffel bag at his side. "I've got it all. Even got a new weapon for Sorano if she changes her mind."

Brightening at his words, she moved to open the bag before halting. "Not in public", she remembered out loud. "Bad idea."

" _Very_ bad idea", he agreed. "The guns are models, but the swords are totally real. Some cops are itchy about models alone, or so I've heard."

"We'll check it when we get back."

"I'll keep them", he offered. "I know that was your money I just spent, but it's better to just bring the bag out when we need it. If anyone finds it I'll just say it's for a school project. No one would bat an eye about me doing something like that. Well... maybe the 'school' part of it."

Aiko giggled, handing back Julian's own umbrella as they set out down the street. "Thank you for doing that, Rosea-kun. I still can't believe that man is able to make a living while insulting and tossing out anyone who isn't a weapons expert."

"The dude's name is Walter. And, uh... I wouldn't call myself an expert. I filled in the blanks online. Actually, he seemed pretty nice once he knew I wasn't an amateur."

"Same statement, very slightly reduced. Hey..." Looking up from the bag's open zipper, she frowned. "I think we're still short a few. I don't see any weapons for you."

Jiachi smirked. "That's 'cause mine are already waiting for me at home. My best two model revolvers. Those should work, right?"

"They should." Though only her cutlass and the ceremonial daggers they had gotten for Mira could ever hurt someone outside of Faraway Lands, the antique flintlock pistol and dart gun looked realistic enough to function perfectly there. _Exact same one I think_ , she estimated seeing the familiar polished handle of the weapon she'd used against Shadows before. _Nijima already returned our weapons to the shop. Believing she wouldn't have to worry about us any more. That we'd be safe to live out normal lives..._

"Hey", Julian cut into her darkening mood. "None of that, okay? You're startin' to bring me down. You think this is the right thing to do, and yeah, so do I. Even the angry bird thinks so."

"Hmph." An unusually large and thick raindrop plastered itself against Jiachi's umbrella.

Without hesitating, he continued on. "It's just a scouting mission. We'll be here the whole time if things turn bad. If you beat my Shadow... If you managed to talk me out of my idiocy, then pulling this off should be a walk in the park, yeah?"

Aiko leaned into wood of the bus stop's bench, her umbrella pulled lower to hide a grudging smirk. "I wish it was really that simple. Still... thanks. Honestly, I'm kind of amazed you haven't met anyone before now when you try this hard to cheer a girl up."

Following suit, Julian did nothing to hide the blush on his own face. "Well, I did have some help with that. I... called Ruby Ann the other day."

Automatically jumping to the worst fear, she became very still, the raindrops suddenly deafening against their umbrellas. "And what did you tell her?"

Alarmed more by the dangerous look on her face than any implications, he threw up a hand defensively. "N-nothing about our plan. Don't worry. I just talked with Takamaki-san about... stuff, y'know."

Satisfied- and honestly feeling like it might actually be nice to have an excuse not to go ahead with the plan- she nodded back. " _Stuff_ , huh?"

"Yeah. How her acting career was going. How she doesn't let the boycott get to her. What it was like, being a Phantom Thief. Know what she told me?"

Having no idea, she shrugged helplessly.

Jiachi smiled back as warmly as he could manage in the gloom, resisting an impulse to throw an arm up to the wet top of the bench and around her.

"She said that she was never the strongest of their group, or the fastest, or the smartest, and she was definitely never the leader. But now? All of them agree they needed her there with 'em."

"Why?"

Stretching his free hand out to catch drops instead, he collected them into a handful of water before dumping them. "Because she was their support. When you're doing something you're not sure will turn out okay, it's always better when someone's there to back you up."

The temptation occurred to her to make some kind of sarcastic remark about how obvious that fact was, but for once it actually felt like a new revelation. _Not just a weapons expert. His energy, that infectious smile... it's the one thing I could ask from a partner that Mira lacks._

Not that Pelagio wasn't. He was a welcome supportive presence as well, most of the time... but despite all they'd done together as a team, Pelagio wasn't human. He _couldn't_ smile. He couldn't make her feel like things weren't quite as bad as she'd thought without using words, and even words from her sworn protector sometimes reminded him how little he knew of the human world.

Jiachi wasn't some kind of expert at life either, of course. He was a teenager, a student like her... and that was the point really. Though there were certainly many differences between them, they also had a lot of common ground. _Difficult parents, for one thing,_ she remembered.

There was no denying the way that his words made her feel inside. They didn't erase her sense of caution, they didn't make her forget the concerned looks on Mira and Makoto's faces. What they did do was lighten the gravity pressing down until she felt like she could breathe again.

"Sounds like you've been elected to that position", she joked, more grateful for that than she could express. It was more than just seeing him breaking free of the crippling guilt that had gripped his face ever since returning from his Land, but to finally have someone who had come to the realization that situations like this _deserved_ a bit of healthy mockery from time to time. A way to release the tension.

He snorted back. "Huh. Didn't know we were holding a vote. If nobody else wants it, I'm game. 'Every team needs a heart'. That's what Takamaki-san told me."

"She knew what she was talking about", Aiko agreed happily. "I don't suppose she mentioned any way that we can repay you for that? Or for helping us to get these model weapons?"

Jiachi rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Tsuruga, I don't know if you forgot, but you saved me. You helped me realize what a d-bag I was being and escape from that place. You risked your lives to do that. Far as I'm concerned, that's infinity plus one to you. But... if you're volunteering, there _is_ one thing I could use some help with, yeah?"

"Name it."

Suddenly looking uncomfortable as he'd been during their Exploration Day project, he managed to force words through while unconsciously spinning the umbrella in his hand. Since it was larger than a pencil or straw the move didn't come across as quite so obnoxious.

"I want to get some tips. Y'know. For... uh... cooking."

"Cooking?", she echoed in amazement. "From me? Sorry, maybe you forgot the part where I made food so spicy that even Pela-tori wouldn't eat it?"

"So I'll dial that part back a few miles", he waved the objection away. While she had been trying to improve since then, asking for further advice from the cooks at Starlight, it was clear she still had a ways to go in that field. _Just like I have a ways to go with learning to operate the Fiddler's Green without help._

And just like that skill, she would keep at it until she got better.

"The thing is, my mom usually cooks", Julian went on. "My old man's hopeless at that. I want to... y-y'know, try and take some of the stress off her, now that she's a few months in with the baby. Maybe I can cook for her once in a while. For my old man too."

Impressed, she nodded. "Done. I'll help you however I can. You have only yourself to blame."

"Always the case, isn't it?", he agreed. Despite his obvious happiness, he felt a twinge of relief to see the bus arriving through the thickening downpour.

It meant he wouldn't accidentally get into the other things he'd wound up talking about on the phone with Ann Takamaki. About how the Phantom Thieves had actually been created out of necessity, caused by the not-quite-legendary Shujin incident. About how a perverted gym teacher, Suguru Kamoshida, had placed Ann at the very top of his list of young girls he wanted all for himself.

About how Kamoshida's Palace- the Phantom Thief equivalent of a Land- had contained a fully-realized cognition of Ann, one clad in what could barely pass as a thong and completely subservient to the will of the Palace's Shadow ruler.

A cognition which, matters of clothing aside, really wasn't that far off from the fawning Aiko cognition that had existed in Jiachi's own Land. He would always remember the busty piano player who had constantly asked to sleep with him, to kiss him, and who always sternly frowned on any other female cognition getting near him.

Who, not that long ago, had been the girl of his dreams. Or so he had believed.

About how he'd realized that he might not have been too many years away from turning into a person revoltingly similar to Kamoshida. Certainly, his Land had some parallels with the Palace that Ann had described to him.

And these were the reasons that he could never quite feel at ease around her, and it certainly felt like it was mutual.

Things had changed. In the world of dreams he'd seen the truth, seen his true self, and beheld that ugliness in himself personally. The cognition of his grandfather had helped him to realize that there was much more to him than only that. There was much more that he could offer the world, and much more that it could offer him.

 _Be strong,_ he ordered himself, carefully hoisting the heavy duffel bag as they climbed aboard and he remembering his Persona's words to him, as well as Ann's.

 _Be the fire. Be the heart. Stand by your friends._

 _If you can do that, then you'll NEVER_ _turn into a Kamoshida._

Something must have gotten through, because Aiko's next words were: "Takamaki-san must've been happy to get a call from her number one fan."

"I think so", he nodded back as they took their seats. "Though I wouldn't say I'm number one. She's married, yeah? I only started following her when I heard of the boycott. Just my luck that she's also amazing, and humble." Desperate to change the subject, he stretched and faced her.

"So, enough keeping us in the dark already. What's phase one of this plan of yours?"

"I was wondering how long before you would ask", Aiko acknowledged with a sly grin. "Confidence is fine and good, but we also need a plan we can be confident in. So... have a look at this."

The slip of paper she pulled free of her pocket was larger than the one Makoto had given him Takamaki's number on, but as it unfolded he saw it had been used for the same purpose:

 _For Protection from Kujou ####### KARMA_

* * *

6/7 Friday

After School

"Who are you?"

"I... I'm calling because-"

"I will ask again; who are you?"

"...My name is Aiko Tsuruga."

"You took a long time to call us, miss Tsuruga."

"I thought I could handle things myself. I was wrong."

"Your caution is understandable. Now... Who has earned your bad Karma?"

"... Her name is Benihime Kujou.'

"Why has she earned it?"

"..."

"Why?"

"Because... She's _awful_. She bullies everyone at school who isn't native Japanese. She runs the student disciplinary committee, and she uses them to make other people help her bully people too."

"Continue."

"And... I'm her main target right now. Because of her, my name at school is 'Psycho Aiko'. She spreads nasty rumors about me, and tells everyone I'm a slut just because I went out with Rosea-kun a few times. The school message boards have hate posts about me. I see them when I use the school network."

"Propganda. Harassment. Prejudice. Slander... _Bad Karma_."

"...Yes. That's right! I... I hate her! I hate her so much! She's such a bitch!"

"We shall see if your feelings are strong enough to be worthy of our assistance. Tonight, take the bus to Sakaemachi street 8. Find the door with a spiral carved into it, and knock four times. Come alone."

* * *

Without Pelagio's help, the back door might have taken hours to find. Instead, Aiko was able to work through the narrow series back alleys leading to the seemingly abandoned dark gray brick structure towards the back of the Karma club, which was no doubt already gearing up for their next show.

Minors would never be permitted to walk in the front doors and see that show, but apparently their 'help hotline' was a different story. She'd made sure to make her voice a lot more whiny and needy-sounding than usual when contacting them.

"You are certain this is the only way?", Pelagio asked her from his roof perch as he had made a habit of doing ever since learning what the new plan of action was. "Going into the enemy's territory all alone like this? Letting them know...?"

"It's the only way I could think of", she replied without looking up. "And believe me, I did a lot of thinking. Please be quiet now, Pelagio; they might have a hidden camera set up to watch the door."

She saw nothing of the sort, but with technology these days cameras could be concealed just about anywhere. "If you don't come out at the appointed time, I _will_ be coming after you, captain. I cannot just sit idly by."

She couldn't reply to that without breaking her own advice, and there wasn't much point either. For once, his over-protectiveness was understandable. _He's counting on me to take care of myself in a place where he can't follow. So is Julian._

 _So is Mira._

After four rapid knocks she expected some small portion of the door above the spiral shape on it to slide apart and reveal suspicious eyes, but instead it simply swung open to reveal a stone staircase leading down into what looked like complete darkness.

Not for the first time, she had to share in Pelagio's uneasiness about this plan. _They gave me the key. I'm the only one they would let in here. And they have no idea that I know about Personas and Shadows. That gives me an edge._

Repeating that chain of logic two more times until she felt confident again, she carefully made her way down the steps into a dimly lit hallway. The overhead cages of light looked ancient, but they did the job of revealing the way forward well enough until the sound of the door creaking shut nearly made her cry out in fright.

 _No fear now. Jiachi believes in me. I've gone into Lands infested with Shadows. This is nothing by comparison. Just a nightclub in Tosashimizu city. A nightclub with a few dark secrets locked up in its basement, but still a nightclub._

Too dark to see the cameras. Too dark to see any side doors that might have offered an emergency exit. The feel of disuse and abandonment clung to every patch of dusty concrete in the corridor, but to give up now was to admit defeat and toss the opening she'd been given straight into the trash.

 _Remember. A leader provides an example to bring their group confidence._

Finally, a second spiral-marked door stood before her, bronze lights making it look old and worn. This one she remembered to close behind her, and a small foyer past it opened up into a much better-lit room, completely square with a high ceiling.

Aiko blinked, and three reflections blinked back. _Mirrors. All three walls are full mirrors._ Their copy-pasting of the room's checkerboard floor made for some headache-inducing scenery, but she was more concerned with locating a door leading out, checking each wall for some sign of where to go next.

The grinding noise hit her ears too late; by the time she was turning back around, there was already a fourth mirror sliding into place to block the opening she'd come in through, and dashing back that way only led to her slamming both hands into the image of a girl who had regained fear and doubt once more.

 _Uh oh. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all._

The bright lights embedded in the ceiling corners flickered for a moment, and then the voice began filtering down to her from some microphone in the ceiling- the obvious place to look anyway if one was self-conscious about staring too long into a mirror. A nonthreatening, regal-toned voice that betrayed little of any origin save for its gender.

"My, my. This is quite the surprise." The room had to be at least ten feet tall, yet the sound came through the speakers perfectly clearly. Once her heart had stopped pounding against her chest like it was trying to escape, Aiko began frantically searching the four mirrored walls for some sign of her host hiding there.

"Please do not be alarmed, my dear. The former owners of this club had a somewhat... _different_ idea of what constitutes entertainment, and I couldn't just let such impressive visual trickery go to waste."

Accepting that there was no way to leave the room until it was given to her, she slumped back into the wall. The voice traveling down to her from the ceiling sounded pleasant enough, but the adrenalin song was still rushing through her ears after the jaws of this trap had snapped shut on her. No doubt Jiachi was pounding frantically on the door now, Pelagio flying around searching for a window he could break. "Who are you?"

"I am Lady Scorpio", the noblewoman's voice replied formally. "I am the hostess of the Karma club. I have seen visions of you, but barely a week after we decided to search for you, here you come to us. How very... convenient."

The words rooted her to the spot. She kept staring up into the ceiling so that she didn't have to see her own shock reflected infinitum. "What? You know me?"

"Not personally", Scorpio amended. "In fact, until you called us, all I had to go on were brief flashes in my visions. You are much younger than I expected you to be, considering what I have seen so far. And yet, here you are. Perhaps _that_ deserves further examination."

"Examination?" Dread bubbled in her gut.

Silence came back to her just long enough that she was becoming uncomfortable with both it and the way that the walls continually reflected back on each other.

"Hm... No. No. This will not do. Your feelings towards Benihime Kujou are a strong resentment, certainly, but still I do not sense your inner will of destruction. You..."

The woman's words became a light wind chime of laughter echoing eerily down the shaft. "...No. You lied. Your hatred is not yet pure. You did not come here for revenge on another girl. You came here to learn of our _plans_. Ha! And as I have seen, you already hold the power, from a very different source than us."

"How do you...?"

But Scorpio did not bother explaining any of it. "I wish to see more of your power firsthand, Aiko Tsuruga, so that I may determine its origin."

There was another steady grinding noise, and this time by sheer luck she was facing the mirror that slid away into a new passage. As if sensing even the hesitation of her guest to proceed, Scorpio's honeyed words rang out again through the hall.

"Go ahead, dear. That trick room is hardly a proper place to perform this test. A curious thing that I have found about most humans... They can never stare for too long into a mirror without flinching away from whatever it is they see there."

 _Test, huh? Not like I have a choice._

The fact that her subterfuge had been predicted threw all their best plans out the window. All that was left now was to see what was waiting for her, and hope that Lady Scorpio didn't just want to kill her.

She didn't sound like it, anyway.

The mirror passage didn't open up into the same dingy corridor as before, but a larger basement gallery lined with round wall lights casting long palls across it in rows, about the size of a Koashimizu classroom. Some signs of prior use were here as well- a table and several flimsy wooden chairs, as well as some more complicated equipment smothered in cobwebs that looked to be left over from the club's previous owners.

And, on the table...

The box didn't belong there. She could tell that from the very first look at it. Square meters of heavy ebony metal and mechanical locks, it showed better care and polish than than rest of the room put together, a lack of dust coating indicating it had been brought and left there recently.

As soon as mirror wall was fully shut again, Aiko saw the central lock on the black box begin to slowly turn on its own. That wasn't the noise which was filling her ears however; the sharp, constant hissing sound was coming out of somewhere up in the ceiling. Following it revealed a series of pumps installed along the seams where it met the walls, but it was impossible to tell what exactly they were disgorging in the poor lighting.

Of much greater concern was the black box itself. Rather, the dark shape that was beginning to crawl out of the box as its heavy lid creaked open. A gushing tide of fluid black interspersed with the occasional flicker of white or green, spilling over the edge of the rim onto the table before her, encountering its more rounded edges before passing over those onto the carpet as well.

It felt like she was back in the depths of Mira's technological forest, feeling true fear grip her for the first time, quickening her breathing and tightening her gaze. "A _Shadow!_ "

"So you recognize it. Good. Kill it, please."

She already had her hand on the hilt of her cutlass. A cutlass that, just like the ones she had surrendered to Makoto, had now been deliberately sharpened until the edge was blunt, making it impossible for it to be a threat anywhere except for a stage performance or Faraway Lands, where perception became reality.

Aiko gripped it tight as if hoping the motion might make it grow back that edge. _Have to try. Wait... If a Shadow can exist in this room, then...?_

Her other hand reached up to find no trace of her flop brim hat, or the rest of her captain's outfit. She'd worn only her Koashimizu school uniform for this. Reaching elsewhere in her mind, praying for success, she focused in prayer.

"Come forth... _Jack Frost!_ "

 _Nothing_ happened. The sudden surge of perception and strength that she commonly associated with the summoning of a Persona was nowhere to be found. Exactly the way it had been when she'd tried calling on Anne Bonny in the privacy of her dorm room long ago, hoping that Pelagio had been wrong about that rule.

The Shadow before her was under no such limitations. It ambled out of the black box and off the table, tendrils of probing darkness reaching out with clear intent.

Whip-quick, her blade flew out to hit the closest limb, driven by reflexes honed both in the fencing club and Faraway Lands proper. Knocking it back, but without any sign of cutting damage. The impact alone had deflected it, but it was abundantly clear that the weapon wouldn't have the bite it had in the other world.

 _So how the hell is the_ Shadow _existing here then?!_

The creature didn't waste time wondering about such trivial concerns. Three more tendrils shot out, the first two successfully parried but the third gripping her sword arm and hauling it down with a strength that she was horrified to see was much like the strength of Julian's Shadow when he had grabbed her. _No. No no no. Never again. NEVER!_

As she shrieked incoherent denial and terror, some impulse drove her other hand down into the appendage trying to force her into the gaping maw of the beast. Only after a second scream followed after hers did she look up and realize that she'd plunged the cone shell hairpin Jiachi had given her down into the creature, piercing the slick flesh and leaving behind a small hole.

The Shadow squealed again, inhuman pain lashing out in return. It shuddered, and then burst open as if it had been made of balloons instead of formless darkness. Behind the scattered bits of the puddle form however, was a completely different shape. Its true form, she knew.

A true form which would never have been able to fit into that cramped box. The Shadow now stood eight feet tall over her, swaddled in heavy dark green robes with a comically frilly collar at the top, small blue bat wings extruding out from the back that gave no indication that they might ever be used for flight.

Above the frilled collar lay a terrifying sight however; a cluster of five living human heads of varying features and genders without any visible neck beneath them, identical only in their shape and pallid yellow flesh color. Brandishing a large red book in a clawed hand, the Shadow focused one head, which had a curly gray judge's wig and a bulbous chin, on her, opening its mouth to speak.

" _This_ is our opponent?"

"This frail human?", seconded a blond woman's leonine head, thin dark lips curled back in contempt.

"Pitiful. She is lacking in both knowledge and wisdom", an orange-haired face with braided cornrows claimed.

"Yes", a fourth elderly face with a long scar running along its side agreed. "A mere cow. All that this one is suitable for is experimentation."

" _Die",_ the five heads commanded as one, five mouths, five voices, moving in perfect unison.

Retrieving her false sword, Aiko stood up before the towering Shadow and tried to look tough. The enemy lacked the flexible tendrils of its previous state, having little in the way of actual melee capability. For a moment, that realization gave her hope.

But then the strange multi-headed Shadow turned its ten eyes to the book in its hand, rapidly flipping the pages until the five mouths began chanting the words of a spell. "We shall tear apart your pathetic mind for study! _Psi!"_

She had enough time to think ' _what?'_ before neon pink light stabbed at her, inducing what had to be the worst ice cream headache of all time. It threw off her aim, turning a nearly useless slash into completely useless.

Instinct honed by months of sporadic combat with Shadows screamed at her to fire back with her own spell before charging in to cut the enemy down, but with a Persona of her own, neither was an option.

"Lorelei! Please!", Aiko cried out, desperately hoping for a result this time. There _was_ something unmistakable surging through the air, the beginning of a Persona's appearance, but it manifested as a series of fragmented wisps and lights, nothing concrete appearing from it. " _Please come out!_ I need you! _LORELEI!_ "

No Persona responded. The Shadow's book flew open again swiftly flipping to a different page. "Enough of your leaping around", the fifth head, a pretty-nosed brunette wearing a diamond tiara, growled. " _Sukunda!"_

Heavy. Suddenly so heavy. Like every part of her was composed of lead dragging her down. Like being underwater, except she could not swim. Her sword was affected the same way, instantly doubling its weight. _The opposite of Mira's speed-boosting spell,_ she realized, too fatigued to speak the words. _Like they need it._

Closing on prey that it now considered completely helpless, the Shadow's five faces leered at her as the free claw reached down to grip and lift her by her throat before she could reach for her cell phone to call for help. Help that would never arrive in time.

"Free us", one of the female faces ordered. "If you desire this weak human to live, you will free us from this prison!"

"We know that you can hear us!", the wig-wearing face shouted into the ceiling. "Open the door, and allow us to return home, or this one will die!"

 _Cold. Darkness. Can't see... can't... feel..._

The Shadow's other faces continued with their threats, but Aiko heard none of their sounds. All that she could hear was her own thoughts, and the sickeningly gradual loss of sensation. Until all she could feel or be aware of was the continued existence of her own mind, which had yet to be snuffed out.

 _Lorelei. Lilim. Jack Frost. Tam Lin. Please..._

She tasted moisture on her mouth. A trivial thing, no more important than a single drop-

It changed _everything_. Realization led to deduction, the flickering flame of a brain fighting to continue living by doing what it was meant to.

Deduction led to actualization. Her own words reaching out to her, just as they had with Anne Bonny's awakening. _I do not need you. I do not need to implore your help._

 _I am Thou._

 _The water. It has to be the water. Moisture. Mist being gradually pumped into this room from above, more and more and more..._

Sensation remained dulled and smothered, but the sensation of the arm gripping her was unmistakable even to one in the throes of death. And she knew...

She knew that the fog was thick enough now.

Her ears remained deaf from the pain, but she knew what she was saying.

" _Strike now, Tam Lin."_

The impact of the Persona's arrival alone was enough to knock her free of the enemy's grip to be sprawled into a chair. Only for a moment however, the bolstering energy of the Persona flooding into her, erasing the previous exhaustion. The snow-maned elfin swordsman floated at her side with eyes that evaluated her status just as she was doing to herself.

 _Back in the saddle. Ready to take this thing down. I should have figured it out sooner, but not too late to make amends._

The Shadow rose, all five of the faces twisted into ugly visions of rage as its book sped through its pages again. "Be lost to madness! _Tentarafoo!_ "

Against the creature's words, the result was not another attack on the mind. Instead, a lengthy barrages of tiny streaks of white light, a thousand tiny insects pummeling from all directions, each individual hit a mere pinprick but enough to badly disorient and dizzy a target.

For a moment, she did seem confused. Then the Shadow felt a wide, heavy _something_ tear into its chest that left the five faces simultaneously gasping for air. Tam Lin sheathed his blade, it having done its work for now, and focused on a different sort of attack in sync with the one who had summoned it.

" _Malaqua."_

A ringed geyser of water shot up around the enemy, propelling them into the ceiling hard enough to leave cracks in the tile. It fell back down to land on a drilling sword thrust, penetrating the robes and earning a united shriek out of the five.

Out of a mix of some impulse of mercy and a desire to stop the mad shrieking, Aiko flicked her blade, throwing the Shadow off of it and into a wall. Already the initial rush was fading, replaced by a swell of pity. Now that she had her Persona back, she understood.

 _This Shadow... it just isn't that strong._

Julian's Shadow had been stronger than this. So had Mira's. Even the golden android Nata Taishi, who had guarded the tower in Mira's Land might have been stronger physically. While it was certainly capable of devouring a human who did not possess the power, against an experienced Persona user who could resist Psychokinetic attacks, it would be easily outmatched and killed.

That was how it had been locked up, she realized. The Karma club's Persona users had forced this Shadow into that black metal box and brought it into a world it apparently wanted no part of, like a wild animal stolen away from its pack.

Reaching over, she determined that the empty box did indeed have much more of the moisture clinging to its sides than the rest of the room did, some of it even forming small puddles along the bottom that she took care not to step in.

"No", the wig-wearing head grunted in pain as she brought her focus and sword back to the task at hand.

"We were wrong in our analysis", the one with the tiara whispered in genuine horror.

"This one is powerful", the redhead acknowledged pleadingly. "Far more than the others who were brought to us for testing. She possesses knowledge."

"Limited knowledge", the scarred face corrected desperately. "But if we joined our knowledge with yours..."

"Would you spare us?", the blond face asked. "In exchange for our knowledge and wisdom?"

Comprehending, Aiko waved her blade at nothing, as if to throw off imaginary blood. "I can't say I'm not in need of a bit more of that after this disaster. Sure, why not? Join with me. Become my mask."

The five faces breathed a collective gasp of relief. "It takes wisdom to know when to show mercy", the scarred face acknowledged as the huge torso bent slightly, inclining all five faces into a grateful bow, ten eyes shut. "We are Fallen Dantalian. Our knowledge and wisdom is yours to do with as you see fit."

Then the Shadow was gone, one more mask added to her collection, becoming one with her. The lights returned, finally illuminating the chamber in full. It was still just a dusty basement, but being able to see it helped her to relax after the fight. There would be no further traps, at least not in _this_ chamber.

Then, the voice emerging from some speaker too small to spot. Lady Scorpio.

"Magnificent. Not only a promising user of the power, but one possessing the gift of the wild card as well? I had heard stories dear, but never witnessed it myself until now."

Senses only now returning to full reach, Aiko became aware for the first time that her clothes had now transformed into her familiar captain's outfit at some point during the battle. Sheathing her weapon, blood still pumping hot, she searched the chamber for some sign of an exit. "Thank you. I'd be happy to arrange an up close demonstration."

She knew the unwritten rule here. You didn't attack the elderly. It just wasn't _done_ if you were any kind of decent person.

But after what she'd just been put through because of this seemingly matronly old woman, she might have been willing to bend the rule just this once.

 _No..._ She paused. That wasn't quite right. She wasn't angry just because of that near death experience. It was because she'd made another deduction, various factors and information aligning that she was fairly sure had nothing to do with the fact that the Shadow she'd just taken was constantly preaching about knowledge.

The rumor of the Karma hotline was a healthy enough one at school, and possibly elsewhere too. You gave them a call, explained the situation to them, and they solved your problems for you. How could that not be alluring? Doubly so since only a handful of students were ever given that phone number.

She would not have been the only one to be subjected to these 'tests'. _Just the only one with a good chance of living through them._

But that wasn't quite right either. If anyone who dialed that number and requested 'Karma' for someone they hated disappeared afterwards, there would have been an inquiry. Someone would have caught on. There had to be something else, something she was missing.

All that she knew for sure was that having sampled the Karma club's methods in person, she didn't like them one little bit.

"We shall meet, dear", the voice promised as a new door swung open. "But not to fight. Follow the staircase into my quarters."

The ascent was long enough that she imagined an entire middle floor could possibly be stuck between the basement she'd been in and the club's main floor, but in the end it brought her out exactly where it had been promised. The new room was well-lit as a dressing room ought to be, and though it still had the intimidating full-length mirrors spanning its length it actually looked lived in, one of them having shattered.

Seated in the middle of the room, devoid of guards or allies, was Lady Scorpio. At least Aiko assumed so. How many other nightclub owners wore full-length reflective geisha masks with stenciled eyes, and cloth kimonos from centuries gone by? _Manners as well, by the sound of it._

Her voice was the same as well. A particular neutral tone developed by nobility for use in dealing with foreign entities that revealed neither hostility or pleasure, and obscured further still by light muffling effect of her mask.

"Welcome, miss Tsuruga. Or... shall I call you 'Saber'?"

Aiko didn't respond right away. Her eyes checked around the room for traps, and found them in the rectangular ceiling vents, identical in design to the ones below. They weren't pumping out moisture nearly as rapidly, but it was clear that they had been doing so for quite a while. The same sick feeling from the basement had followed her up here.

"That liquid", she accused the hostess at last. " _That's_ how you're doing it. Somehow, it allows Personas and Shadows to exist here."

The woman's mirror mask tilted approvingly. "Yes. Only in these rooms, and in a weaker state than they are in their own world. Summoning Personas is much more difficult as well, as you may have noticed, but it can be done."

"How?"

The mask regarded her, just as imperceptible as the voice behind it, distorted images of herself appearing and twisting with each small movement.

"I am sorry, dear. I cannot share all our secrets with you just yet. Not until we have determined if you are suitable to join us."

She froze. " _Join you?_ Seriously?"

"Yes. Certainly, your selection of Personas is quite impressive, but their power remains that of a novice. We can help you in improving that, and in finding your inner will of destruction. Of greater concern to me is your loyalty. We are willing to grant you a powerful rank, the lost title of Queen Aquarius... But there is a problem."

"I'll say there's a problem", she countered angrily. _I could call Tam Lin here, beat her down... And then what? Kill her? No. That's going too far._

"Please do not embarrass yourself by trying to fight", Scorpio advised her flatly.  
"As I have said, your experience with the power is limited compared to ours. I would rather not have to hurt you."

"Your pet Shadow did enough of that already", she growled back.

"But he is _your_ pet Shadow now, child", Scorpio argued with the first hint of humor Aiko had seen from her. That left quickly however, to be replaced by a tone of calm fury more dangerous than any Shadow.

"I understand that every human has desires, and must be permitted the freedom to pursue them. Mark me well child, and know that if ever your desires interfere with my own... then those desires shall be lost to you. This is not a threat. It is simply the _truth_. You may speak with King Leo when he returns from his mission, if you should require further proof of this."

Taken aback by the earnestness of this claim, she reached down for her cell phone, cursing to find that it wasn't working. Just like in Mira's Land, there was no trace of a signal. Appearing to be ignorant of this attempt to call for help, Scorpio continued her speech.

"The gift of the wild card is a rare one indeed, and it is one that troubles me. The only one capable of giving it to you would be the Servant of our enemy."

Her blood chilling, she took an involuntary step back. "Wait. The servant? Are you talking about Mr. Igor?"

The frozen mask looked back at her, revealing nothing. "Take a seat, dear. I will explain to you. Then you will understand the need for Salvation."

"I don't think-"

The host's arms spread out, wide sleeves flapping with the motion. "I said, **take a seat**."

There was no time to call a Persona. No time to even begin to fight back before an invisible _something_ slammed into her hard, knocking her back into the wall without any sign of impact or injury. She was being forcibly seated on the floor, and now Scorpio was rising over her like a wraith in her loose-fit garments.

"That poor bookshelf. Perhaps I should replace it if it keeps getting our guests thrown into it. No matter. Allow me to unmask, and open your eyes to the truth."

The mirror-limned eyes seemed to yawn open then, gaping holes in the substance of the host with nothing but empty void behind them. Expanding until they overlapped each other, becoming a single combined gap in space, an endless black hole.

She fell into the hole.

* * *

Tosashimizu's bespectacled chief of police beckoned Makoto into his office with enough aplomb that she immediately felt like she was being ushered into a ready baited trap.

It wasn't that the man was particularly intimidating, at least not to her. The chief had that effect on the younger officers that he normally despised, but he lacked the brooding sense of potential violence she had noticed in certain officers stationed around Tokyo. Chief Mamoru Kagasawa came across to her more like a high-strung uncle than the kind of humorless thug of an officer who had been accused and convicted in droves during the Shido investigations six years ago.

"Nijima-san", he greeted her flatly, pulling aside a chair before turning to his nearly empty coffee mug. "I've been on the phone with your superior. We both agree that it's far past time for you to go home."

Instinct made bite down on her lip to obscure a frown. She had predicted something like this weeks before, but it didn't make it any less stressful to deal with.

"I still have a week on my extension", she said calmly enough to make it not sound like a protest.

"And you can continue with those", he nodded. "You're not expected back on duty in Tokyo until the 15th anyway. What I'm saying is... don't open any new cases until you get there. And don't think that you'll be getting another extension either."

It was too late to stop the look of vexation crossing into her eyes and tipping him off. "It's nice that you seem to like it here in Tosashimizu so much", he continued. "But this is our place. Tokyo is your place, and I'd think you'd be happier going back there anyway."

Privately, Makoto considered it highly unlikely that any of Tokyo's cops would have expressed a desire to see her back with them again, but Kagasawa wouldn't know that.

"What I'd be happier doing doesn't matter, chief", she tried respectfully. "What matters is doing my job, and there's jobs here that aren't done."

Adjusting his specs, the man gave a long-suffering sigh. "So you _were_ going to ask for another extension. Forget about it, Nijima. We can do our jobs too. We don't need your help to cordon off a beach."

Suddenly it felt like the itch was climbing up into her hair, even though she had showered only yesterday. "I know, chief. That's not what I was worried about."

"The Karma club then", he grunted. "We've checked them out twice now. Nothing both times."

"Nothing that they didn't want us to see", she corrected gently. "I still have reason to believe that they're hiding something from us, chief."

Sweeping his desk off, he cracked a light smile back at her. "Hm. I'm surprised, Nijima. I thought a cop from Tokyo would have dealt with places like that enough. Sure, they used to be an adult entertainment club. Only reason they still got some of that crap in their basement is because nobody wants to buy it off them. And they can't really sell that freaky mirror room I heard Hideki talking about last time."

"And a few years ago, they hired a minor", she pointed out briskly. "Doesn't that suggest foul play?"

"Foul play that they had to pay the fine for", he countered disinterestedly. "Nijima, we're not arguing on this. You're going back on the 12th. We'll maintain the cordon and keep watching Karma for anything out of the ordinary. You've got much bigger fish to fry back home, the way I hear it."

A very general assumption, she thought, but correct. As the unquestioned urban center for the entire country, Tokyo had played host to every shade of Yakuza or lesser criminal for longer than either of them had been alive.

Of particular interest to her had been Satsu Enmikaeda, the young up-and-coming boss who had taken over Junya Kaneshiro's leavings along with various other crime bosses who had been beaten or weakened by the Phantom Thieves in the past six years.

 _In a sense, it's our fault that Enmikaeda became so strong. Though if it wasn't_ him _, someone else would have filled the vacuum. The Yakuza never stay down for long, it seems..._

While frustratingly little else was known about him, Makoto could certainly tell already that he was much more cunning than his predecessors. Scams that were less brazen than previous ones, but much more subtle and harder to catch characterized the bulk of his activities, and it had taken years of hard police work just to learn his name.

Tosashimizu, thankfully, had little signs of Enmikaeda's people that she had seen. But then, they were never exactly what she would call obvious, usually only acting in the dead of night where even dedicated officers might not spot them.

Which brought Makoto to her next defense. "What about Hex? Sightings of him have increased in the last few months."

But the chief had exhausted his patience now, and regarded her with only fleeting pity. "Nijima, do you really think that having _one_ extra officer on duty is going to make the difference there? We'll get the guy, don't you worry. I've been increasing the night patrols, and some of the victims are cooperating with us. Only a matter of time."

"Of course, sir", she nodded in defeat. The fact that Kagasawa considered her to be annoyingly nosy for someone who was just visiting, a Tokyo cop who thought that she knew better than the 'bumpkins' of Tosashimizu, didn't change the truth of his claims. Whether Hex was to be caught or not had little to do with her presence or absence.

It inevitably reminded her of the last time she had spoken to Aiko Tsuruga back at the Tenjincho food court, and how that had gone, the way her skin had felt like it was on fire, about to burst open. Being in the right didn't mean that she couldn't feel bad about alienating someone she liked.

The similarities didn't end there either. Like her sister Sae- like, presumably, all members of her family from the stories she'd heard about her father- Makoto was used to being correct and logical in all things. Even the slight feeling of doubt over a past decision felt like a beast mounted mockingly upon her back.

"I understand, chief", she answered with a grit of forced composure. "I'll head back on Monday."

She was halfway out the door when the chief's call of her name brought her back. "Y-yes?"

Chief Kagasawa's strange open palm hand gesture seemed to be an improvised substitute for a wink which would have come across as insulting. The look on his face was much less vague however. "I knew your dad on the force, Nijima. I just wanted to say... he'd be proud of you."

That warmth- the _good_ kind of warmth, not the accusing fire from the mall- kept with her until she was out of the station and back in her car, driving through the rain-swept streets back to her condo.

It almost lasted throughout that trip as well; Tosashimizu city was a mere fraction of Tokyo after all, and a city where cars actually were preferable to public transportation. She waited there at the entrance to her simple abode, alternately considering her strategy for moving out and for how best to convey all that she had learned to the ones she would trust to continue investigating the Karma club.

They were guilty, she knew that much. She wouldn't insult Julian Rosea by assuming that he was lying as so many others on the force might. That trust, she realized with a start, was inspired by a natural faith in any other person who had undergone an Awakening and gained a Persona.

The matter of Goro Akechi aside, she felt like Persona users would be much less likely to lie about what they had seen, the very event being a baring of the soul that any who witnessed it couldn't help but feel a connection to in their heart of hearts.

What had Akechi's Awakening been like? Had anyone else borne witness to it? If they had, then could they have saved him from going down his chosen path into destruction and madness?

 _What-ifs are of limited usefulness at best_ , she reminded herself. That was something that Sae had taught her very well before college. It was all well and good to suppose potential outcomes for past events and people, but no amount of thinking about it would change what had actually happened. Goro Akechi had made the wrong choices in his life, and thus he had secured his own fate.

And now, if her sources were to be believed, there were at least two other people here in Tosashimizu who had Awakened to their Personas and, like Akechi, had chosen to use their power for selfish reasons. That wasn't something that she could just leave to the police. If _she_ couldn't continue the hunt, then someone else she trusted would have to carry on.

Knowing that the person she trusted more than anyone else was on their way here helped to banish any pangs of guilt as she ascended the stairs to her room.

 _Take out_ , the thought surfaced in her before she had even shut the door, sniffing in confusion as she sensed a sudden dampness in the air. Ordinarily she tried to stick to home-cooked meals as much as possible, but hearing the chief's speech and knowing she only had a few days to pack had drained her energy.

It wasn't so bad, this condo. She'd seen far worse in other residences, but nothing in Tosashimizu would match the charm or the memories of the Nijima's Tokyo residence. It wasn't this bland white room that she would miss, but Tosashimizu city itself. A land-locked hub for transients from not only Japan's main body but the rest of the world as well, its modest spread holding onto some things that Tokyo had been forced to forsake due to its immense size and population density. The comparative lack of light pollution let you to view the stars when they emerged from the dark of night, and tonight seemed especially clear and cool.

 _Take out on my balcony_ , she added with a satisfied smirk, sliding the outside door open, grateful not to see any more rain coming down after a week that had been plagued by an endless amount of it. _One small disadvantage from Tokyo._

Makoto couldn't place what exactly tipped her off, what it was that made her energy come rushing back in a spike of alarm and adrenaline. A stray noise, a scent, just a feeling, the dampness, the sensation of a disruption of air pressure from someone else in the same room?

It didn't matter. Just like all her hypotheses about Akechi, it was idle thought that wouldn't help her here. What mattered was that she hadn't taken her belt off yet, and had her pistol out and ready in the space of a breath.

"Please come out", she requested into the darkness of her empty bedroom. "I'd like to apologize for being so high-strung that I reacted that way."

Silence there, a pause just long enough to make her wonder if she had been jumping at lowercase shadows, when the voice low and syrupy enough to rumble her counter top responded.

"Don't apologize, Makoto Nijima. Your instincts are correct."

The face that the rumbling voice belonged to emerged into the light without fear. Adult, male... Makoto would have guessed to be in his late 30s. The flat brush of dark hair on his head was graying early at the tips, but far more striking and attention-grabbing was his heterochromia; one large, beady eye of dark chestnut brown, the other one such a light white that it nearly looked transparent when her kitchen light reflected off of it.

 _Something off about that eye, can't tell what..._

The man's clothes had nothing on these unique features, consisting of a regal-looking dark red button dress vest, bright red salaryman's tie over a white shirt, cinched belt and neatly trimmed pants that would have fit in perfectly in some rich high-powered corporate office building in Tokyo... although most of that type she'd seen preferred darker shades, or most commonly pure black.

"I am Osamu Sanaki", the towering man in red announced with his hands up and eyes disturbingly wide, staring into her instead of the gun barrel pointed at him. Under other circumstances, his voice would have been quite soothing for her to listen to. "The voices call me King Leo. Do you hear the voices as well, Makoto Nijima? What do you they tell you?"

Her response was to tighten the grip on her weapon. The man looked unarmed, but the name he had just dropped suggested otherwise. "Hands on the table", she ordered, carefully sliding half a foot back when he didn't comply. For someone with a gun pointed at him, he seemed frustratingly tranquil. "You're in the Masked Circle?"

"I am", Sanaki- if that was his true name- sounded slightly regretful, voice like slowly cracking ice. "I'm very sorry. The voices tell me that you're interfering with our Salvation, and must be silenced."

 _Either he's insane,_ she decided, _or he's got something up his sleeve._

Betting on the slim odds seemed like the safer option this time. "I _said_ , hands on the table where I can see them, sir. You're under arrest for breaking and entering." _And never mind how you managed to do that without any of the usual signs._

Still disobeying, still wearing his soft, sad smile, he stepped forward. "I take no joy in this, Makoto Nijima. I'll make it quick."

"STOP!", she shouted, more worried about this obviously crazy man's safety than her own. The times when she had actually been required to discharge her weapon in the life of duty could be counted on one hand, but she had put in enough practice at the firing range to be 99 percent confident in her shot.

It was the other 1 percent that scared her and put that annoying quaver into her voice. "Sir, _please_ stop and do exactly as I say, or I _will_ shoot you."

Sanaki smiled as if she had just told him he was handsome. He advanced, and then there was a blasting noise enough to put not just her ears but all her other senses on strike as well for a full second, the gunshot carefully aimed at the man's left leg, far away from any vital organs to disable, not kill.

A less far deafening sound followed after- the metallic tink of the slug falling off his leg and onto the floor, still smoking from the impact.

She began to realize for the first time in that damp room that it might not have been _his_ safety that she needed to worry about.

Panic spurred on two more deafening shots, both with the same result, and then his hand was descending onto hers, wrenching the weapon free with the irresistible strength of an earthquake before tossing it across the room.

She found herself staring directly into the glassy white eye as the man spoke in his strange rumbling voice again.

"The voices won't allow me to be harmed. They tell me you're familiar with a skill called 'Tetrakarn'."

Sliding further back into the frame of the balcony door, Makoto blinked, the memory flawlessly coming back. She _did_ recognize that word, even after six years of never hearing it used. It was the word that Haru Okumura- Noir- had used for one of the extremely useful yet depleting barrier spells wielded by her Persona, Milady.

"But you can't!", she protested, looking around desperately for some way out. "This is the real world! You _can't_ use-"

"I can", King Leo informed her sternly, as if a father scolding a disobedient daughter. His mass seemed to be everywhere, blocking her escape "You can too, if you wish to. A Persona is no mere fantasy, Makoto Nijima. It's the true self, the ability to make changes in the world. Here... I'll show you."

One hand reached up to stroke his glassy white eye before his face was transitioning into an expression of vicious rage and the stroke turning into a violent scratching motion.

" **In a world of agony, blessed are the blind. Dreadful Dagon, together we shall consume."**

Something unseen knocked out the kitchen light, casting the condo into blackness. Through the glass of the balcony door, Makoto saw something indistinct moving within its reflection, the fleeting impression of mottled ichthyoid flesh and claws, clusters of eyes devoid of sclera that never remained in place long enough for her to ever catch proper sight of. A spider made of uncertainty and fear crawling through her brain.

It left no noise behind at all, but an obscene chant that only existed in her own mind ringing out endlessly, drumming at her temples with each momentary glimpse;

 _whatdoyouseewhatdoyouseewhatdoyouseewhatdoyouseeWHATDOYOUSEE_

If the spastic creature shrouded in the darkness was truly Sanaki's Persona, his 'true self'... then every bit of charm or humanity this man had shown her so far was a calculated deception. Just the act of trying to look at Dagon made her stomach curdle up in a way that had nothing to do with her hunger... Or the fear of death which now quickened her pulse and tightened her breath.

Limbs stiffening, she shot her leg up into a well-practiced _akido_ kick and immediately regretted it when it felt like she was kicking a block of solid concrete. Her chop to his face had the same result, only hurting her hand and failing to even dislodge the oddly cheerful, even childlike expression on his face.

"Don't be frightened. You won't need to feel anyth-."

That was all he was able to get out before she slammed the outdoor chair into his lower jaw. Seeing the way that the wrought-iron bent away from the impact was alarming, but didn't stop her from taking that time to scramble back to the far end of her balcony.

Enough to for her to consider all of her remaining options, discard the ones that she knew wouldn't work, and realize that there was only one left for her to try.

Makoto focused her inner will of rebellion, easily remembering back to the scalding, impossible anger which had awakened from a seemingly innocent and demure Shujin council president once upon a time in a floating bank. Six years that felt like an eternity.

" _Come, Anat!"_

Sanaki- King Leo- blanched, hesitating for a moment until it became chillingly obvious that he'd been thrown off by her declaration, not because he felt the surge of Johanna's power rising.

Because she didn't feel it either.

Because it wasn't there. If she squinted, she might have been able to make out a few wisps and random shifts in the texture of the air around them, much the way Haru's Persona had been when she had first joined them... but that could just have easily have been created by Dagon as Anat.

It was Dagon's power which Sanaki marshaled now, and she could certainly pick up the familiar sensation of a strong Persona gathering itself for a telling strike, the use of an elemental skill.

Sanaki's lips spoke one word.

" _Teradyne."_

Beyond desperation, she charged forward into another _akido_ strike until her feet no longer felt contact with the ground and she was flying upwards and off the balcony altogether.

Gravity seemed to take hold of her slower than she expected, allowing her a chance to count the cars in the parking lot below her before she felt the sensation of cold night air rushing up into her.

 _Please, please, please, please, please...!_

"ANA _-"_

But her final conscious thoughts were not of Anat at all.

* * *

Persona Profile #3: _Oya_

'What I destroy, you no longer need.'

Arcana: Priestess

Abilities (so far): Zio, Zan, Marin Karin, Dia, Sukukaja, Mazio, Mazan, Media, Rejesho

Strength: Lightning, Wind

Weakness: Earth, Curse

Background: The Yoruban _orisha_ , or spirit, of winds, lightning and storms, as well as death and rebirth. The immortal queen of the river Niger and the mother of nine. She is attributed to violent rainstorms and known as an unbeatable warrior. Other common aspects of this _orisha_ include great intensity of feelings, sensations, and charm. Prohibitions imposed on those who worship her include the consumption of pumpkins and mutton.

* * *

Enemy Profile #9: _Dantalian_

Abilties: Psi, Sukunda, Tentarafoo, Mapsi

Strength: Psychic

Weakness: Nuclear, Lightning

Background: A powerful duke of Hell with thirty-six legions of demons under his command. Appearing as a man with many countenances, all men and women's faces. The 71st of the 72 spirits of Solomon, and custodian of various mystic books from Hell's libraries.

* * *

A/N: So have I made King Leo and Lady Scorpio creepy enough yet?

And yes, I am using songs for Persona Q2 as chapter titles as well. Hoping it gets released here soon.

Keeping up the pace, and I hope not to leave you on a cliffhanger for too long.

EDIT: Thanks to Ford1114 for pointing out an error, which has now been corrected. i was going to weave Makoto's social link being incomplete into a later narrative, but then I realized she didn't resolve herself to work to become a police commissioner.


	31. Our Beginning

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _It's Not Destiny_

 _It Would Be A Grave Mistake To Think So_

* * *

6/7 Friday

Evening

The stars glittered from everywhere at once, their burning lights radiating off each other until Aiko realized that she was awake again.

 _Or...?_

Not that she didn't enjoy the view. Ever since the meeting with officer Nijima, her sleep had been plagued with visions of all sorts of permutations related to what she viewed as a 'betrayal'. By comparison, this was like a calming evening excursion into the world she'd become so familiar with lately, and comfortingly devoid of Shadows for once.

It would be so easy to just lie back and relax and just watch the stars wheel by overhead-

 _No. Can't. Came here for a reason._

The reason spoke to her then, a ringing clarion cutting through the empty space with no sign of its speaker.

"Beautiful, is it not?"

"Y-yes", she agreed, not sure what else to say.

"And yet. This world is not what it should be", Lady Scorpio continued speaking more passionately. "It's filled with empty tribalisms built on distortions of the truth. Once, the realms of the conscious and subconscious world were identical."

A spot in the middle of the empty space seemed to collapse in on itself, everting and becoming a lonely-looking blue planet. "Early humanity, possessing intellects closer to the animals they had arisen from, did not yet possess the ability to conceive of a detailed future as we so often do. They did not dream. They did not imagine."

As she watched, a golden butterfly emerged from the outer darkness and flitted around the planet, scattering some kind of ethereal dust about it.

"They did, however, possess _desire_. And the energy of that desire, that desperation to survive, called out to a being existing within the rift between worlds. Perhaps early humanity's collective desires pooled together to call it into existence, or perhaps they had always been there, left alone in the void and waiting for the emergence of beings sharing in his gift of sentience and the ability to conceive of the future."

The butterfly flashed white for a brief second before shifting, transitioning into the shape of a nondescript adult male, elegant black hair tied into a ponytail with a pristine white jacket and pants, coupled with a black shirt and tie. A full-face mask clung to his face with a dark butterfly mark running along its left side.

"That being's name is Philemon, the God of the Subconscious. He endeavored to guide humanity's growing souls into what he considered to be a more prosperous state of enlightenment."

Philemon's ethereal shining dust covered the planet now. Each grain was a tiny star, and there were thousands of stars there, thousands of lives, glowing and constantly spreading out further and further across that pure sphere, until-

"However, this effort led to a disaster that nearly destroyed the world."

Something was wrong with the cluster of stars in a certain spot on the globe. They were flickering, and then dying out, and in their wake was only a blot of formless sludge. The beginnings of a Shadow.

"While humanity's self-awareness expanded, so too did their desires. By putting so much of his energy into this effort, Philemon had accidentally created a nexus of psychic energies about the Japanese city of Sumaru."

Aiko frowned, trying to take everything in and formulate some kind of response. "But... I've never heard of a Sumaru city."

"Because, my dear, it was wiped off the face of the Earth, as well as from the collective memory of all humanity. Even the ones who once knew of it could no longer recall its name when the dust settled. Sumaru had become inundated with Philemon's creative power. It had turned into a place where thought and reality drew dangerously close to one another. Where mere rumors, if spread into enough human minds, could affect reality."

The dark ooze that represented this forgotten city began to spread, threatening to cover all of Japan, and then the world.

"Seeking to contain the damage, Philemon excised the entire city, bearing it away to worlds unknown."

Golden light covered the puddle, tearing away the malevolent blob from the rest of the planet, which grew furiously writhing tentacles and worse even as it forcibly was rocketed away to the stars... along with Philemon's shining golden butterfly.

Turning back to the planet, Aiko could see that some residue of the black slime still remained there, dormant for a moment before it began to move on its own again. Though Philemon was gone, a white shell of light descended on the remaining darkness before enveloping the entire world in its protective barrier.

"Philemon's last act as the master of the subconscious realm was to create a block on human understanding, to prevent a resurgence of the Sumaru incident. It causes human minds to reject anything that does not fit into their perception of reality. Such as Personas, and Shadows, and whatever form their world may take at any given time. We call this phenomenon 'The Veil'."

Flashing back to father Shigetsu's earlier words, Aiko watched the barrier complete its goal, covering the planet in a radiant protective sheen. The rest she had been ready to dismiss as pure fantasy, but as Reiha had said about Aiko's earlier explanation, the story of the Veil made far too much sense to be cast aside so easily.

The majority of humans had no idea about any of the many bizarre things she had discovered since arriving at Koashimizu academy. Even when they were directly presented with strong evidence of it, they always created other excuses that fit in with their perception better, so that everything made a logical sense to them.

Just three months ago, she would have been exactly the same way. Ignorant of Shadows, Personas, and everything else in Faraway Lands. And unwilling to accept that there was that much she didn't know about.

"It doesn't work on everybody", she remarked, presenting herself as evidence of that, her voice echoing in the void.

"No", Scorpio's voice became more gentle now that Philemon was no longer their subject of conversation. "The Veil is not a perfect protection against the realm beyond it. It can still present some aspect of itself to certain people in this country, particularly those of a certain age."

Following those words, small cracks began to form in the plastic-wrap barrier, and from those cracks more dark tentacles spilled forth, desperate to escape and shatter the barrier completely.

"It is the age of pedagogy, wherein children are forced under duress to part from their most fantastical beliefs, relegating them to the realms of idle fantasy. While it still retains a reduced role in adulthood in the form of superstition or religion, there are sparing few who believe it in their hearts. Cynicism. Disbelief. Fear of the unknown... these things maintain the Veil for them. The ones undergoing that middle stage, the painful transition between childhood and adulthood, are the ones most likely to be able to peer through the Veil, so long as they retain open minds."

"In other words, people my age", Aiko nodded in comprehension.

 _So it's true. Everything that Bart-kun said about those groups of teenage Persona-users. Young people who could see beyond the Veil, and sense what was beyond..._

"Philemon left a devoted servant behind to try to organize these fortunate few into a force that could avert further catastrophe, and nurture the human spirit to a point where the dark desires could be banished at long last."

Now she was viewing the besieged planet through a window from a distance, the window being a part of the room that had formed itself around her without notice, a chamber of dark blue velvet with a simple desk in its center. The silhouette seated at that desk, his arms steepled in front of him...

"Mr. Igor", Aiko breathed in awe.

"So I was correct", Scorpio's voice sounded disappointed by this reveal. "The Servant was the one who granted you the gift of the wild card. How... unfortunate."

 _No_ , she considered. _That can't be right. Mr. Igor never said that_ he _was the one who chose me. Why would he choose me? Me, of all people?_

Scorpio's voice became harsh again now. "Alas, just like his foolish master before him, the Servant can do little but watch the human world from a distance, through the lens of dreams and reality, and manipulate others into the path of catastrophe. _His_ power is far more limited than Philemon's. You, along with your comrades, are merely the latest pawns in his futile attempts to prevent the Veil's final destruction."

Aiko, too, felt that her anger was finally breaking through whatever air of civility she had brought to this place. "But... no! Mr. Igor _helped_ me. He warned me about Faraway Lands, showed me how to use my masks. My _Personas_."

"Saving several lives, and forestalling the Veil's destruction", the voice observed. "A small kindness. But what of the future?"

"What _about_ the future?", she accused. "What's so great about the future that _you're_ creating by doing what you do? If anything, you people are making things _worse_!"

Scorpio chuckled politely. "Dear child. You do not yet understand the full details of our Salvation. Yes, the ability to dream, to conceive of the future and make record of our past remains the greatest and most unique gift of humanity. It is also our curse, the futures we conceive driving so many people to despair."

The revolting slime around Japan roused itself once more, this time taking on the shape of a massive faceless clockwork angel, multiple rigid arms protruding out to hold guns, swords, bells, books, and other universal instruments of control. It loomed large over the nation as if about to pounce.

"A mere six years ago, humanity's collective desire for security and the freedom not to make decisions- the freedom not to think- was so _strong_ , so all-encompassing, that it manifested into a wicked God of control: the Demiurge. Now, the same realm that malevolent being sprung from has already reconstituted itself into something completely new. A new form. A new name. A new _mask_. The time of peace between each crisis is growing gradually shorter. The holes within and without. Soon, nothing the Servant does will be able to prevent the Veil's destruction. You've been forced into a battle you cannot win."

The machine angel vanished, driven away by the power of the Tricksters, but the leaks across the rest of the world only grew, glass cracks spider-webbing outward from each one as the darkness gushed forth in a flood. Crack met with crack met with crack until the entire Veil began to fall into pieces.

"Perhaps you and your companions might be successful in driving off the cause of the new threat. But even then, how long will it be before the next one strikes? And the next after that?"

There was a noise like a sick animal dying, and then the barrier was completely gone. Voracious after having been held back from its goal for so long, the darkness which had destroyed it flowed across the planet in no time at all, leaving nothing behind but a globe of featureless black that emitted a chorus of horrific, tormented screams without visible mouths until she had to cover her ears to block them out.

"You see? The Servant is a fool. He resorts to short-term solutions, luring bands of gullible teenagers in to become his soldiers and thwart the malevolent Gods forged of human desires. He still believes that humanity can be turned back to the path of prosperity by the guidance of his velvet-gloved hand. He refuses to acknowledge the true darkness that lies within humans, even as it continues to strain against the Veil, seeking a way through, until the day comes when it finally shatters."

Aiko had several seconds to behold the globe of corrosive dark mud before something pierced through the gloom. It was one of the shimmering stars from before. Though smaller in number, they shone far brighter, driving away the darkness wherever they appeared.

"Our goal, our _Salvation_... Is to prepare humanity for that day, whenever it may come. Any human who still possesses the potential to gain a Persona _must_ have it awakened and nurtured. Only those with the power will survive the cataclysmic end of Philemon's Veil, and live to rebuild our world as it should have been; perfection."

The bright stars released their full light, driving the slime back to the farthest recesses of the world. What was left behind was hardly recognizable as the planet humanity called home. It shone with a new, alien light, and one yet to be discovered or even conceived save in the mind of one.

It reminded her that all of this had been illusion, merely a projection of Lady Scorpio's own mind, and that realization shifted her perceptions enough that she could sense its falseness, like an expert mannequin shedding human-like skin.

That universe shattered, just as the barrier had. They were back in the dressing room, Aiko still laid down on a pile of dislodged books.

Scorpio was still watching her, her kimono-clad arms crossed in preparation. "Now do you see, child? You understand that our Salvation is needed?"

Ai couldn't think of what to say right away. Her only action was to stand back up, eyes searching the empty air for some trace of the vision.

To say it was a lot to take in at once would be the ultimate understatement.

"We're supposed to take your word for all of this", she pointed out defiantly. "Just trust that you're really doing all this to help people? That whole vision you fed me could have been a lie."

"Denial", Scorpio observed sardonically behind her mask. "The most banal and predictable of responses from a human living in a world where Philemon's Veil still holds sway If you continue to deny a fact against all proof otherwise, then it does not exist to you. It is far easier for humans to think that way. Less frightening... _But it is not the truth._ Dear... You know the truth."

Staring back into the black sockets of that horrible motionless mask, she felt... not sure what to feel.

"The midpoint", Scorpio suggested sagely. "The axis between two sides, a point where you cannot decide what is truly the right path. You see child, I understand you far better than you think. Perhaps, better than you yourself do."

Instinct sent her withdrawing back, as far away from the motionless face and the cloying words coming out of it. "You don't know a damn thing about me!", she shuddered.

"More denial", the woman observed with a touch of sadness. "It's alright. I know. I know what it was which caused you to come out here tonight without your allies."

"To protect them from _you!_ ", Aiko snapped back, desperate to block out the poison of this woman's honeyed words but unwilling to place her hands on her ears and reveal that.

Scorpio gave another infuriatingly polite chuckle. "Ah, but child, that is merely half of the reason. The other half? You would rather place yourself at risk than anyone else. Even those who are not your friends. Even Benihime Kujou, whom who claim to hate."

" _It's my life_!", she screamed back into the invisible tide smothering her. "I can decide if I want to risk it or not!"

"Yes", the woman mused, shaking her head. "You see, I can sense your inner will of destruction in you now. Your will of _self_ -destruction."

It felt like she was falling.

 _No. No, that's not right. It can't be._

"And who could blame you for it, truly?", Scorpio continued on mercilessly, uncaring about how much the words hurt her. "A non-existent father. An absentee mother who only ever viewed you as an inconvenience and a source of shame-"

Falling...

"Stop... it... stop!"

"-Pale hair and green eyes which marked you as a target for ridicule from other children, and uncertain nationality in a country where that has become an important factor for one's inclusion into society-"

 _Falling..._

"STOP IT!"

"-written off as less than worthless. Who could blame you for searching for a new home far away from such grief? Who, indeed, could blame you for seeking out that new home in the Lands beyond this life?"

She was surprised to discover she was holding her hands to her head and closing her eyes at the same time she felt two strong arms grabbing hers, to pull them away as if Scorpio wanted to see her tears up close.

"Poor, frightened child. But you don't have to live like that any more. This can be your home. Become Queen Aquarius, and nurture your skills. _I_ can be the caring mother that you have always deserved."

The kimono's sleeves drooped down from an outstretched arm which beckoned to her eager eyes.

"Come to me now. _Come to your mother_."

That moment would remain with Aiko forever.

How long it lasted she would never know, but it could not have been very long. What mattered, what would keep her up at night, was that the moment had existed.

There had been a moment where all other considerations and knowledge had fallen away, leaving only naked desire to balm an invisible wound she had been nursing since before she could remember.

It felt like she was a lonely child again, crying out at the unfairness of the universe.

 _I want someone to love me._

 _I want someone who can make this world make sense._

 _I want someone to guide me. I'm tired of being the one who has to make the decisions._

 _I want mommy. I want mommy to love me._

Then, all too soon, her Persona saved her. A painful tug of the mind, the inner self, pulled her out of the reverie of desire and made her realize what was really happening.

She'd seen mind-influencing skills before. Both as witness to one of her comrades being affected by it, and as a direct victim of it. It never stopped being embarrassing when you were shocked out of the trance, and remembered, if only faintly, what one had been doing while under the effects of Marin Karin.

But compared to Lady Scorpio, to the power of her Persona, every single Shadow that she had ever seen using that type of skill was _less_ than a joke. She could actually _sense_ the raw power of it now, a cloying pressure on her mind that had grown with every word until giving into it felt like going deeper into the most comfortable warm pool ever... and rejecting it felt like stepping back out of that wonderful warm pool in the cold, bitter air of winter.

She wanted to laugh.

 _I can't believe it. She almost had me. Almost had me ignoring everything else I've seen tonight and hugging her and discarding everyone just so I could feel for a moment like I actually had a loving parent. Just for the sensation of floating around in some warm place._

 _Never again._

Vigorously clearing out her eyes and ears and brain, she fixed the geisha mask with a stare. "Have you ever actually spoken with Mr. Igor? Did you ever think to ask him _why_ he does it like this?"

"We have never spoken", Scorpio clarified. "I have only beheld the Servant and his misdeeds in my dream visions." Silk gloved hands tightened into fists inside her voluminous sleeves. "Had I the chance, I would gladly destroy the Servant for his constant meddling. Slowly. Painfully. So that he may understand all the pain that he has caused others."

 _There we go_. Feeling the older woman's cold rage more acutely now, she smiled sadly, inwardly pleased at being saved from the void of not truly knowing which side was in the right, of which was worthy of her help.

"See, that's the difference. That's the reason I will _never_ become your child, your Queen Aquarius... Because y _ou don't care_. You don't care if people get hurt in order to bring your precious 'Salvation'. You're trying to awaken Personas in as many people as you can, even if the ones who don't have one _die_."

Scorpio spread her arms. "They would die anyway. Those with such inflexible and closed minds are mere fodder to the Shadows. You must understand... Only the ones who hold the strength to embrace their other selves can be permitted to survive. It is inevitable."

Aiko grunted something unflattering, narrowing her gaze. She was getting to like this woman less and less with every moment. "I kind of doubt you'd be saying that if _you_ didn't have a Persona." Pausing, she studied the polished mask anew. "Hold on. If Mr. Igor didn't give you and Samesaji the power, then who did?"

Scorpio responded with a mirthless laugh, one tinged with madness and threatening enough that Aiko actually took a step back towards the wall she'd been thrown into before.

"That is a story for another time, child. And one that you shall never know, if you choose to continue to remain a puppet of Philemon's Servant."

Her lips set firmly, she reached for the handle of her sword. "Sorry, but no. Mr. Igor might be really creepy, but he hasn't steered me wrong so far. And _he_ doesn't torture people trying to get them to awaken to their Personas."

Scorpio sighed, her mask unable to stifle the genuine, heartfelt regret in her words.

Perhaps she had wanted to have a daughter just as badly as Aiko had wanted a mother.

 _But_ real _parents don't brainwash their kids_ , she snarled inwardly.

"I see. Even after all you have seen and experienced tonight... You still remain a foolish, unwise child. There is no cure for your condition except time, and even then..."

"Dantal-"

She had the cutlass halfway out of its sheath when an invisible wall slammed into her, knocking her back into the door. Dazed and winded, she was still able to make out the tall, slender shape of the figure that was floating next to Scorpio for the first time, now that its true power had finally been redirected from influencing her mind and properly unleashed.

 _Against_ me. _Have to fight-_

The Persona was nearly a unique enough sight to distract her from the pain and exhaustion. A lean, buxom woman dressed in a single-piece blue gown with numerous exotic necklaces draped around her neck, teal and pink eye shadow slung beneath a golden headdress in the shape of a hooded cobra, hooked fangs at the ready and several other regal looking bronze accessories.

That unearthly beauty and luxury was marred however, by both the lengths of thick, drab-colored bandages wrapped around her arms from the hands down, and the exposed bottoms of her legs in the same shape... As well as the inhumanly cruel expression on her well-kept features. A face that somehow periodically shifted between divine youth and beauty, and something closer to the face of a rotting corpse...

A last attempt to raise her blade was denied by one of those bandages suddenly shooting out as quick as thought to knock it from her grasp, clattering along the floor.

"Well done, _oh Glorious Cleopatra_ ", Scorpio praised her Persona, having not moved from her spot since what could only generously be referred to as a 'fight' had started. "Do not kill her. She has friends who would begin to ask questions if she died here. We still must remain hidden from the public eye."

The tall Persona's lips took on a pout of disappointment at having her first plan of simply smothering Aiko in her countless bandages canceled, but the follow up impacts were no less brutal for it, eventually anchoring her to the wall by all four limbs so she could not move.

Now Scorpio stood, arms folded neatly about her waist, and Aiko had no choice but to stare into that awful frozen mask. Something behind it- the same power which had caused the earlier visions- reached out to her mind.

"We have no quarrel if you mean to continue to save others from the grip of Faraway Lands, child. If you and your friends delay the destruction of the Veil a while longer, so much the better, as it gives us more time to prepare... But neither shall you interfere with our Salvation."

Another psychokinesis-induced headache crashed into her and everything was gone.

* * *

She wasn't surprised to find herself back aboard the velvet ship once more. She'd rather wanted to be there, in fact.

There were much more dangerous places to be.

"I see that the truth of humanity's hidden past has been revealed to you", Igor observed not unkindly from his usual spot at the table, waiting for her to stand.

While she already knew beyond doubt that this space had nothing to do with the physical world, Aiko still felt like she'd been kicked in the gut, settling down into the other seat with a lack of energy felt all the way down to her bones.

"It's true, then? Sumaru city once existed?"

"Long ago", he agreed, his grin never budging. "All prior efforts to undo the eternal scars of that conflict proved fruitless, and so my master sought to heal humanity's wounded psyche through a different method. Through his own departure, taking the city along with him and deleting both from humanity's consciousness."

"Leaving you behind to clean up his mess", she remarked irritably, though she knew the anger was more directed at the as-yet unseen Philemon.

Igor chuckled heartily, the steeple of his spidery hands growing taller still.

"Ah, but it is a duty which I greatly cherish, Dream Voyager. How can I not, when witnessing such wondrous players of the game? Each of our guests since then has surpassed my expectations in so many wonderfully remarkable ways. There was the Savior, who willingly surrendered his soul to preserve all that exists. The Seeker of Truth, whose insight pierced the fog which swallows reasoning. The Trickster, who found his way through an unjust game to true freedom even without my guidance; quite the opposite, in fact. Then..."

"Then there's me", she said gloomily, eyes lowered to the table's inoffensive grain. "The Voyager of Dreams. Some champion. I made a _huge_ mistake, trying to check that place out on my own."

"Perhaps", Igor acknowledged quietly. "But such a defeat can also serve as a learning experience. Thanks to your bonds with your allies, I do not believe it will be a permanent one."

"That's about all I can hope for now", she admitted shakily before looking back up. While the hunchbacked man looked as cryptic and creepy as ever, she thought she could sense a degree of anticipation behind his demented rictus.

"I'm not going to bother asking you", she determined. "You're the veteran here. Senior to any human or God. You'd know best how to save everyone's souls, Mr. Igor."

"Ah, some wisdom at last", a more emotional voice reached them from the far stairs. Bartholomew stood, a book clutched in one hand and an expression of sour disdain on his eye patched face. "I was beginning to wonder if you had any at all within you, or you were nothing more than a hollow shell of flesh."

"I know", she conceded, fighting not to tear up again. " _I know._ I'm sorry. I got too reckless. I was mad because Nijima-san tried to stop us and took away our weapons. I should have listened to her and Mira-chan."

Unsatisfied with her contrition, Bartholomew dumped the dark tome onto the table with an impact that jolted even Igor. "I was busy searching for the book on advanced Persona fusions when I heard what you had done. You're still welcome to the book... If you still have the wits to use the rituals in it."

"Enough", Igor called, a hint of irritation in his voice for the first time she could recall.

"Our guest has repeatedly acknowledged her own failures, and I am confident that they will serve as catalyst for the further growth of her noble spirit. None of our guests, whatever their talents, were ever completely free of errors in their judgment, and her mission, however ill-advised it was, has revealed much information about a dangerous enemy."

"The Karma club", Bart observed, his fury swiftly redirected. "The Masked Circle. Foolish humans who think they know better than any other. Allowing mere visions to lead-"

" _How rude."_

The words sounded like they were right there in her ear before blasting out across the rest of the room, halting Bartholomew's speech and freezing his stare directly ahead. Igor's smile remained unperturbed, but Aiko felt a pang of fear even before recognizing the the voice and turning to face it.

Lady Scorpio's frozen mask floated beside her there at head height, but without any sign of a head or body to support it.

"The Velvet Room", the mirrored mask commented without any sign of movement. "So this is where the magic happens. How quaint."

Equally still, Aiko slid an eye towards the stunned assistant. "How...?"

"It is a mental link", Igor explained patiently, moving his head up to cast bloodshot eyes on the mask as if he was only doing so under duress. "It would seem this enemy still seeks to bring you over to their side."

Bartholomew was the exact opposite of his master's calm, immediately moving between the card-laden table and the floating mask in a wide-armed defensive posture. "She is not the first to successfully invade the Velvet room. But she neither is she a God."

"The assistant is right, of course", Scorpio acknowledged. "I am but a human, 'blessed' with a powerful Persona." Bitter sarcasm staining her words, she turned to Igor's table. "Yet, what were your vaunted champions but that, Servant? And did _they_ not slay Gods?"

Bartholomew suggested something anatomically improbable to her, his single yellow eye stretched into a feral slit.

As usual, Igor seemed less emotional, merely staring back into Scorpio's mask with a faint hope. "We do not doubt your capabilities, O lost maiden. The true paradox lies in your reasoning."

"You know my reasoning, Servant", she snapped back. "So does this young one now. If fate is kind, then she will come to understand the truth. Perhaps she, not I, shall be the one to destroy you."

Rising up livid, Bartholomew shook his head and gestured with one open palm towards her. "Alright, enough of this."

The floating mask wavered, rippling as if an image cast by a dying projector before fading. Only when it was completely gone and leaving nothing behind but a mocking feminine laugh did Aiko breathe properly again.

Bartholomew didn't look pleased though. "The link remains", he pointed out as though it were an accusation. "I can banish her from this room as many times as I must, but not from your own mind. That will be left up to you."

He stopped himself then, realizing what he'd said. Igor lowered his head, eyes peeking up past his beak of a nose to regard their guest. "My most belligerent assistant is merely concerned for you, Dream Voyager. Some threats must be avoided until the time is right to conquer them."

"You don't set course into the eye of a hurricane", Aiko agreed, bowing regretfully. "Now that we know what it is. Please Mr. Igor, forgive my recklessness. I never meant to bring _her_ in here."

"Ha ha... That _is_ one of your more endearing traits", he told her, grin spreading wide across his hollow cheeks now that their intruder was temporarily banished. "Hold onto it. Refine and master it until it can be donned at will like any of your masks. There remains a certain strength in recklessness, particularly to those who observe it in another. Those who fear nothing from the common warrior still evade the ire of the berserker."

She winced. Thanks to her history classes with grouchy Mr. Noriyama, the word 'berserker' conjured up the image of big sweaty muscle men dressed all in hides, who drank mead until they could ignore everything else around them, even their own injuries, and focus entirely on killing their enemy.

It certainly wasn't the kind of image she wanted to project to her friends, but looking back at some of her previous battles there was no denying that there had been times when she had lost herself to the fight, to the point where she would sometimes feel an acute pang of disappointment when it was finished.

 _That_ feeling was something she had privately hoped that Mirambela would never find out about, but there was no hiding anything from these two. __Mixing murderous intent for your enemies, and unrestrained love for your allies. A dangerous balancing act, as they are the two opposing sides of a woman's passion.__

Anne Bonny had told her that, having lived that life from beginning to its bloody end. That first Persona wasn't currently with her, having been part of the fusion that created the powerful Tam Lin... But they would always share many things in mind and heart, just as Mira shared much with Oya, and Pelagio with Galahad. _Rosea-kun and Wild Bill... We'll see. Or, will we?_

"Your journey is far from over", Bartholomew remarked. "While the Tricksters of the past endeavor to seal away the danger of Faraway Lands, they contend with a powerful enemy whose knowledge exceeds their own."

She nodded. "Right. That Cleopatra Persona... It was the most powerful one I've ever seen. Even with Tam Lin and Lorelei, I never had a chance against her. It was just like that time with Rosea-kun's Shadow. And Taurus is probably strong too."

"Personas grow and change with the soul of their user", Bart explained, referring back to the book he had brought. "This book contains many powerful Personas that are formed from the sacrifice of three or more others. In your current state, you lack the mental power to use most of them. However." Breaking off, he gave a wistful smile complimenting the rest of his handsome face.

"Perhaps there may be one or two in here that will prove useful to you in the trying times to come..."

* * *

6/8 Saturday

Morning

Aiko's eyes ached enough that there was real temptation to just keep them closed. Everything else already ached, but that part was spared until she opened them.

Then she remembered what happened and they shot open, ignoring the pain shooting through optic nerves causing her to pant. Or at least _something_ was...

Perhaps it was the sky overhead, painfully bright after a seeming eternity of rain, that stung them. Sensation finally returning, she felt the sand of the Tosashimizu shores and the sound of distant speech.

Jiachi's round head and brown sugar hair popped into her view, brief amusement on it failing to hide severe worry lines running across his face.

"Huh. Looks like that nurse lady knew what she was talkin' about after all. I was just about to bust out the medicine."

Another, more familiar voice reached her an instant before the white falcon glided past overhead. "You would do no such thing, boy! The nurse was very clear that an overdose of that could cause harm to the captain."

"Shit, you heard that?" Realizing that they were both getting distracted, he returned attention to their 'patient', waving an arm before her dazed eyes. "Hoy there, Tsuruga-chan. Rise and shine. Wake up and smell the sea salt, or whatevs."

Knowing without needing to try that it was too early to stand, she settled for moving arms out to support her sitting. "You... brought me to the shore?"

Julian immediately showed a guilt that accentuated the bags under his eyes. "Uh. Not right away. Tried the hospital first, told 'em that you had a hit 'n run. They checked you out last night, said all you needed was time and fresh air."

How long had she been dreaming? _There was the velvet room, then Lady Scorpio..._

"Karma club", she exhaled, the panic she'd taken with her into unconsciousness suddenly revived. "Masked circle. What happened?"

Jiachi sighed, more readily offering her a damp washcloth than answers. Pelagio seemed less so, perching directly beside her prone body without concern for who might see a falcon getting close enough to her to bite.

"We don't yet have all the details, captain. I... That is to say, _we_ tried to follow you into the basement when the door locked behind you."

"Your cell phone", Julian offered her, gently handing over the device as if concerned it or she might break. "It lost the connection. We heard everything that happened just fine until that lady said you would be having a 'test'."

 _A test._ Yes, that was what had happened. There had been the mirror room, which led her further into a dark, unused gallery where the black box had waited for her.

Without even realizing, her hand was moving down to her waist. "My sword..."

"Gone", Jiachi confirmed apologetically. "Sorry. I didn't see it, and I didn't have time to look."

"There is no other way to put it, captain", Pelagio noted with equal contrition. "We... panicked. We hadn't expected to lose the phone connection so abruptly. The boy was unable to break the door down, and so I searched the exterior of the club for a window I could successfully break."

"I have a name, y'know", Jiachi remarked stiffly. "But yeah, feather bag managed to find the fire alarm in there. In the confusion, I snuck in there and got you out. You were out cold in the dressing room when I found you."

 _Dressing room... the cracked mirror... yes, that's right. And Lady Scorpio..._

Her smashed into the sand in fury. _"Damn it!"_

"Easy now", Jiachi warned her. "Easy. The nurse said that you needed a _lot_ of rest. Stressing out like that is prolly bad too. I knew you liked the beach, and I couldn't exactly bring you into either of the dorms, so... here we are."

His clarification made her realize that perhaps the mission hadn't been the complete disaster it had seemed at first. _I learned a lot last night. Learned about their plans, and how they're managing to use Shadows and Personas._

If you forgot the extensive beating that she had taken and everything else that Lady Scorpio had done to her, it would have been perfect.

She felt herself turning to face Pelagio and then stop. This was too much to dump on them all at once. _Not without..._ "Where... Where is Mira-chan?"

Pelagio's wings created a wide shrugging motion. "She... has gone to her classes. We made it clear that you were unwell, and unable to go to school today."

Something in his stance give her the feeling that there was more to it than that. "Is she... okay?"

She couldn't continue on until she got this answer. The recent brush with danger had only heightened that sense, she found. She could handle a beating as she had before and maybe work around whatever Scorpio had done.

But if _Mira_ had been hurt because of this fiasco, then she didn't want to go back to the dorm. She would stay here forever and hope to drown.

Finally, Julian cracked. His eyes studied her expression closely, trying to decide exactly how to explain it. "She... uh. She got really mad when she saw the state that you were in. Mad at us, really. Blamed us for it. For encouraging you, I mean."

The balm of relief washing through her head drowned out his next few words.

 _It's okay. It's okay. I got hurt, but that's fine. It's fine. Whatever. Doesn't matter. Mira's okay. Julian's okay. Pelagio's okay._

 _Everything's **fine.**_

The sound of footsteps in the sand interrupted her reverie, belonging to a tall figure that looked imposing backlit against the morning sun until she recognized his face. "Captain", she acknowledged happily. "Sorry, but I don't think I'm fit for any practice today."

Removing the curved smoking pipe from his mouth for once, Byzael made a show of looking her over as she struggled between the sores and the deep-seated need to not be weak in front of him.

"You don't look fit for much of anything right now", he observed finally. "What happened t'ya, girl? Hit by a wave?"

"Try a car", Julian corrected him a bit too fast. "Nothing broken, but..."

As she'd expected, bitter anger flashed through the captain's long face and through the rest of his frame as well before being forced back down and rejected. Sensing Jiachi's worry, he turned a welcoming smile on him next. "S'pose you're the one who did that for her? I'm in your debt, lad."

"R-Rosea", Julian managed. Despite the pain, Aiko could only smile at the way the normally tough-talking Julian was just as nervous around Byzael as she had been at first. Very buff even for a fisherman, the captain of the Fiddler's Green was certainly an imposing sight until you got to know him. "Jiachi Rosea. Or, uh, Julian Rosea, whichever one you, uh, like 'cause, y'know, I..."

"Mr. Rosea", the captain decided, shaking the younger man's hand in a firm grip that took his breath away. "I'd offer you some of my port, but you look too young. A shame. You'll have to come back in a few years so I can thank you properly."

Finally relaxing, Julian nodded. "Um. That'd be nice. So this is the fish dude you told me about, Tsuruga-chan? The one who's giving you his boat?"

Smirking, Byzael gestured to the elegant curved shape of the Fiddler's Green, which bore signs of recent and repeated use in the waters south of Japan. "I wouldn't say 'giving it away'. Not until she's proven that she's ready for it."

Unable to endure it any longer, Aiko forced herself to ignore the aches and stand up properly, eyes beaming respect into his. "Yes. He's captain Byzael."

Pelagio, of course, had flown off into the distance without another word to anyone. He didn't like Byzael, and she was grateful that Jiachi didn't feel the same way about him. He was embarrassing her enough as it was.

"I've been busy", he acknowledged politely. "Looks like you've been busy too. I'll be taking a break back here for a while if you're up for it later."

"Thank you, captain", she bowed back. "That would be wond-"

Memories, recent ones blurred by injury, flared back to life and she found herself sputtering meaningless noises.

 _Damn. Not the time for this now._

 _But it might be the only time. Sooner the better. Can't hold back. Not now._

Not when she'd been so quick to dismiss Mira's opinions before.

"Captain", she started over quickly so as not to alarm them. "I'm sorry, but I need to know. This big haul that you were offered. The one that all the fisherman here got... what exactly was it?"

Byzael naturally looked surprised that she would know anything about the 'haul' beyond what he had told her and spent a moment searching for a trick. When none came, he shrugged. "Heh. That's the weird part, isn't it? They asked us to deliver our hauls to a wharf on the west end of the city... and then they don't care how many per haul."

Each deduction was a frozen crystal shard in her mind, impaling her with frigid cold as it slowly formed into a larger picture. _Because they never wanted the fish at all. That's just to conceal what they're really after._

 _They wanted the water. The water that has begun to mutate sea flowers. The water that can transform Pelagio into a boat, or a tower._

 _The water of Faraway Lands._

"What's wrong?"

Realizing she must have truly frozen up, she jerked awake. "Captain... If I can ask you a huge favor?"

"Name it", Byzael scoffed, expecting some kind of joke.

She craned her neck up to hold his gaze, wishing now more than ever that she were as tall as Mirambela. "Please stop delivering hauls to that wharf. I can't tell you the reason why, just that the people paying for that aren't what you think. And, if you can, ask the other fishermen to stop as well."

Replacing his pipe with one hand, the captain palmed his bristly chin with the other in thought. "Hm. Guess I should've known better. The money was too good to refuse, and you know what they say about those kinds of offers."

"Will you?", she asked, a plea in her eyes. "Pretty please? For me?"

Byzael stared back unflinching. Now, more than ever, she had begun to realize that whatever affection she felt for this man who had offered to help her reach her dream was mutual. She couldn't explain it. There was just something about him that made her want to be strong, to earn his approval.

And now, that honest effort to earn his trust and respect would not go to waste.

"Alright", he agreed. "For you, Tsuruga, I'll do it. I'll tell the other guys too, though I can't guarantee they'll stop."

"That's fine", she breathed out. It was enough to know that Byzael wouldn't be unknowingly helping their enemy, to know that request wouldn't damage their friendship. "All that I could ask for from you, and more. Thank you so much, captain. I'll be back here again for training when I'm feeling better."

"Take your time", he waved. "No slacking off next time we see each other, got it?"

Laughing, she gave back a mock salute. "No, sir!"

Jiachi waited until he was far gone before turning to her. "Oooo-kay, mind telling us what _that_ was all about?"

"Later", she promised. "Right now, I've got to go apologize to Mira-chan."

"She's still in class", he reminded her. "It'd be weird if you went in now after you called in sick. I'd say just wait back at the dorm if you don't have anything else to do."

There were things to do, but aside from the brief spike she'd gotten when Byzael showed up, Aiko no longer had the energy to care. "Yeah... a day off doesn't sound so bad, really. Wait... you took it off too, didn't you?"

He grimaced back. "Yep. Not like I'm missing anything too major. Saturday's just the day when we turn in the week's assignments, and I already gave mine to Rurichiyo to turn in."

"Oh, really? Even though Rurichiyo-senpai is a third-year and you're a second?"

His face paled. "Crap! I, uh... geez... if, uh, you're okay with walking, I gotta go get this straightened out!"

Just the act of watching him run cheered her a bit. _Nice to know that this mission didn't change him much at all. He's not blaming himself. Good._

And why should he? She was the leader of the team, not him. The mission had been her decision to make.

The dorm was, as expected, empty. Even the supervisor, Ms. Ekuya, was out for the day dealing with her other duties, but she varied her schedule enough that no one would dare try to take advantage of it.

In this case, it almost felt like luxury, having such a room to herself, able to prepare lunch without any distractions and bring it up to her room to eat. Or even eat in the lounge area if she'd wanted.

Another luxury- watching TV while eating on her bed wasn't something she would normally do, but as Julian and Pelagio had so helpfully pointed out, today was special.

Today, she could forget about all that for moment and just lie back and rest. That was the plan for today, and until she saw what was on the local news she had been looking forward to it.

 _OFFICER THROWN FROM BALCONY HOSPITALIZED_

Five words were all it took to dash that sedentary vision into turmoil and ruin.

 _Thrown from balcony. Hospitalized. Officer Makoto Nijima._

She didn't hear the commentary over the rushing noise in her ears, seemingly the only part left with sensation in it. An odd, distracted peace had settled on her now, a sense that maybe this was all staged. That maybe there was another person named Makoto Nijima on the police force.

Maybe she hadn't just made the kind of mistake that hung around you every waking moment, eating away whenever you gave it an opening, trying to get to the vital core and feast until there was nothing left but a guilt-wracked comatose shell.

"Nijima..."

She didn't recall falling from the bed. The TV image that had suddenly subsumed her entire world flickered off at an angle until she was looking up off the carpet her head was nuzzled against at it, no longer able to fully make out the details of the talking heads dominating the screen.

"Nijima...!"

Byzael, she knew, would be waiting a while before she was back and ready to train. Maybe not for a week.

Maybe forever.

"Nijima-san... No, no, no...!"

* * *

6/8 Saturday

Afternoon

Unfamiliar with the exact structure of the Tosashimizu general hospital and how it affected air currents, Pelagio made a slow, cautious glide up to the highest antenna on the gravel-covered roof.

From this perch, he could see the entire area surrounding the building including a small river. More importantly, he could see the hundreds of humans milling around, each one intent on their own desires or duties.

What he couldn't see was an open window with Makoto Nijima inside of it.

This was a new phenomenon for him, something Shadows and cognitions had never demonstrated. Somehow, whenever a human was injured, then those who were close to that human would become withdrawn and moody, sometimes lacking the energy to perform the tasks they would normally carry out day to day.

The only thing he could think of to compare it with was forcing himself to imagine the unthinkable- if Aiko had been injured in a similar way.

 _My first impulse would be to go after the people responsible, to avenge her,_ he decided easily. _However, we haven't yet confirmed who was responsible for this. We only have suspicions._

 _Suspicions might be enough, in that imaginary case._

And this, he considered further, wasn't so far off from that. By injuring Nijima, someone had hurt his captain in a way that shed no blood, but was somehow far more traumatizing, and the perpetrators were nowhere within his sight. There was no one to take vengeance or Makoto Nijima on.

He felt as though he might explode from the frustration. His fury emerged from his throat only as a falcon's feral screeches, a clarion echoing across the city before fading into memory.

Instead, he tried to drain off his energy by swooping around the area, hearing random snatches of conversation from humans below, none of it related to his internal strife. Banking away from the shopping district and the mall it surrounded, he caught sight of the crime scene- the back of Makoto's condo and the parking lot.

The police had already set up their investigation, several people in uniforms examining the rear door and balcony, as well as whatever signs of a struggle lay inside the room itself. More striking was the single car still remaining in the lot- an expensive-looking blue convertible which now bore the marks of a collision from above, though he was relieved to see no broken glass there.

As opposed to the glass of the rear door, which looked like it had exploded outward from within the building. Though most of the shards had been cleaned up already, more still littered the concrete outside. One young-looking officer stared up at him, confused for a moment before shrugging and continuing with his survey of the lot.

Who could have done this? What could have possibly propelled that poor woman into the glass door with enough power to not only break it, but propel her _through_ it and out over the balcony railing?

Knowing that the few humans who could understand his words were elsewhere, he felt comfortable speaking his mind, knowing that the humans would only hear noise.

"Makoto Nijima... We shall avenge you, no matter what it takes. So vows sir Pelagio."

Then, there was a reply.

"Ooh! I love the way this town smells! Smells like... _Sushi! I love it!"_

Pelagio blinked. The voice sounded like a child's, too young even to give obvious hints of gender, but strikingly loud enough to be heard from the other side of the building. Taking flight and wheeling around, he scanned the street for the source and found nothing.

Then he heard it again.

"I see... so this is where the attack happened. Poor Nijima-san... We'll find out who did this, no matter what! We can't just ignore an attack on a fellow Phantom Thief!"

Pelagio stared down from his perch, for a moment wondering if the stress had gotten to him as it had the humans.

Because he could have sworn that the words were emerging from the mouth of a small cat on the sidewalk next to the condo. Black fur, with curious blue eyes studying the crime scene with a focus no normal cat possessed.

Then, as he stared in shock, those blue eyes rose up to spot him and turned from curiosity to irritation.

"Yeah. I wonder if you saw anything that night? Man... not like that would help us. It's just a dumb bird."

Nearly motionless, he regarded the cat with a predator's gaze. "Hmph! Excuse me, but I am _not_ a dumb bird."

He'd never known that a cat's eyes could get that large. Or that they could run under a bench that fast.

"What the... hey! What the hell?!"

Faintly amused now, as that was preferable to the sensation of confusion from before, he spread his wings to follow. "That is indeed the question at hand, yes? For example, why is a stray cat capable of speaking as humans do, as well as understanding me?"

The cat had found a cover beneath a set of wooden stairs, but hiding wasn't in its nature, and it emerged in pose of indignant anger. "H-hey! Shut up! I'm not a stray! I am Morgana!"

"Morgana", Pelagio repeated, letting his talons flash dangerously in the afternoon light. "Yet, that doesn't answer my question. So I will. Could it be, perhaps, that this mysterious talking cat is surveying the acts of her masters, to confirm a job well done?"

"What?!", Morgana hissed. "Make sense! And you're one to talk! You're a freaking bird!"

At another time, he might have found this impudence amusing. But today was not a good day for patience.

His wings stretched wide, ready to swoop down and strike. To avenge Nijima.

"I am sir Pelagio, miss Morgana. And you _will_ be answering my questions about your masters. Assuming that is, that you wish that mangy coat of fur to remain intact!"

Morgana's eyes stretched wide again. "Oh, crud...!"

* * *

Tosashimizu general hospital looked exactly the way Noel had described it. A lobby composed of blank white tile and drywall harboring two clusters of black plastic chairs far apart that the occupants would be unable to hear each other easily, large transparencies lining the walls too large to be called windows showing little inside but a desk and shelf.

In short, the place felt like a mortuary, and the fact that the doctors weren't letting her see Makoto at all only reinforced the feeling.

A feeling she welcomed, because it was still preferable to feeling nothing at all.

Preferable to stay here among the sounds of hospital equipment and staff talking in hushed voices than wander outside and have _absolutely no idea_ what to do.

'Crybaby Ai' wasn't gone. She never had been. It felt like she was swimming around beneath a thin skein of restraint, waiting to burst out again at the slightest provocation.

When Mirambela walked in, Aiko stood up to meet her eyes, ready to accept whatever deserved judgment might come to her. Her roommate had spent the last day and a half steadfastly avoiding her, eating dinner out and only heading back to their room after the other had cried herself to sleep.

But now, it felt like none of that had even happened. Aiko felt long arms gripping her, felt hot tears stinging that were not her own.

"It's all my fault", she blurted as soon as they were able to find a pair of seats together. "My fault. I did the mission, even though you and Nijima knew better. They were _waiting_ for us. They..."

"None of that, please", Mira hushed her. The distracting sense of position reversal remained a welcome one, as did the warm sensation of the arms bracing her. She was too tired to resist, to protest. "Yes, I think you made a big mistake, listening to Rosea-kun. But you _can't_ blame yourself for this, Ai-chan."

When the deep weariness in her friend's eyes suggested otherwise, Mira withdrew her arms, taking a more predictably stern approach. "Think about it. You went to the Karma club. They- at least I assume it was them- went after Nijima-san on the same night you chose to do that."

Turning to the side as if able to sense their injured friend through the unyielding walls, she shook her head. "So. _How_ exactly is that your fault? The only person who deserves the blame... Is whoever did that to Nijima-san."

The ringing truth of her words- the truth she'd neglected to embrace feeling it would be a dodge of responsibility- brought Aiko's head back up.

"I know. I know that. I just feel so guilty because... I didn't tell her what we were doing. Maybe, if I had..."

"Then she would be safe?", Mira asked. "You think she would run and hide on the slight chance that they might get hostile? Where exactly would that be? For all we know, they might have a way of tracking people down."

Something else she hadn't considered, and made all the more alarming coupled with what else she knew about the Masked Circle now. "I was stupid and careless."

Mulling over the words, Mira didn't respond until Ai repeated herself again. " _Stupid_ and _careless_!"

"Yep", she agreed lightly, as if the observation was about the color of someone's clothing. "You're probably wondering why I haven't yelled at you yet about that. The truth is, I already spent all my anger earlier on Rosea-kun and Pelagio, and... Seeing you like this, I could tell that you were already punishing yourself more than I ever could."

More pensive now, she turned back, eyes focused through the last of her tears. "That's always it, isn't it? You always do that. You went in alone. You're totally fine with taking pain for yourself, even if you might _die_. But you can't stand seeing someone else hurt. That was why..."

 _Why I stepped in to help you in the first week of school? Probably._

"My pain... Doesn't matter", she claimed, trying to force enough energy into her words to make it seem true. "It goes away after a while. It's nothing, really. It doesn't matter."

Mira's reply was a grunt of exasperation. " _Jamani_. It _does_ matter. It matters, because I feel the same way when _you_ get hurt. Or when Rosea or Pelagio gets hurt. Or..."

With the way her voice trailed off, Ai assumed it was because there was no need to bring up Makoto's name and dig into open wounds, but then she felt the nearby presence of another and turned.

The man facing them brought a clean-shaven adult Shukiji to mind at first, with paler skin and glasses contrasting with a mop of frizzy raven hair. Yet peering closer, it was easy to notice the more subtle differences.

Even in this solemn environment, she could sense a lightness in his soul tempered by past hardships, which like Julian, allowed him to joke even in the worst of situations, during the times when it was most needed.

"I didn't mean to intrude", the man said. "You two were making a bit of a scene there. Auditioning for a soap drama, are we?"

Her uncontrollable laugh piercing a veil of tears, Aiko nodded in gratitude. "Something like that, yes. Our friend is... well, she's hurt. Badly. She's here in the emergency room now. The doctors say that she's going to live, but..."

Satisfied that he'd dispelled the guilt that had been eating her alive for the past few hours, the young man took on a more reserved expression. "Yeah. Me too. That's why I came."

She stared back at him in amazement, the pieces gradually clicking together. Even Tosashimizu General hospital wasn't big enough to accept so many new patients at once for it to be a coincidence.

"Makoto Nijima?"

The pale man snickered, his lips forming a strange mischievous smile for someone his age. "Huh. I _wish_. No, my name's Akira Kurusu. It's nice to finally meet you."

* * *

Persona Profile #4: _Jack Frost_

Arcana: Magician

Strength: Ice

Weakness: Fire

Abilities: Bufu, Mabufu, Patra, Lucky Punch

Background: A spirit originating from England. A snow elf who brings in cold weather during the winter and is thought to be responsible for the frost that forms on the windows of homes and buildings. Though seemingly innocent, it also freezes those it dislikes to death.


	32. Invitation to Freedom

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _A Devil's Deal Made Me The Star_

 _Consider This, And Who You Are_

* * *

6/8 Saturday

Afternoon

They didn't compare notes right away. The Tosashimizu general hospital was still too somber a place for that, and Mr. Kurusu had been right- they _had_ been creating a scene.

Leaving the building, the trio quickly found they weren't the only ones. Seeing a cat and and bird madly fighting each other in a side alley was something Aiko had long ago reserved to the realm of cartoons.

Doubly so when she recognized this bird's particularly bright white feather pattern.

"Pela-tori, _stop_!"

"Morgana, _stop_!"

Mr. Kurusu and Aiko stopped as well, briefly glancing over at each other as they realized they had both shouted nearly identical commands at the same time. Even more surreal- the two animals _both_ obeyed the commands at once, the two pulling apart and managing to look resentful towards each other despite neither being human.

Then the black-furred cat opened its mouth and spoke, a young bratty voice echoing through the alley that was apparently nothing more than random meows to any passerby.

"It's not my fault, Akira! This bird-brain started it! He said that I looked suspicious!"

Satisfied that the two of them were done fighting and neither had really been hurt, Mr. Kurusu cracked a knowing smile. "Did he? He's got good eyes, then."

"Hmph!", Pelagio quickly took up a perch on a lamppost, refusing to look back at the cat unless necessary. "Forgive me for finding a talking cat girl visiting a crime scene suspicious."

"Urgh! Shut up! I'm _not_ a girl, you feathered moron!"

"No more suspicious than a talking bird visiting a crime scene", Mr. Kurusu pointed out more calmly. "And yes, I can hear you too."

"He's a friend of Nijima-san", Aiko explained. "A Phantom Thief."

"Shh. Not so loud", Mr. Kurusu warned her with a hint of jest, placing a finger against his lips. "It's been six years, and I _still_ get a bit antsy whenever someone pulls a Ryuji and blabs without thinking like that."

"Skull", the cat lamented as if that single diminutive word was all that needed to be said about that subject. "Man. I just hope he knows to watch his mouth at the Olympics."

None of them dared say much else related to their mutual secrets until they were able to find a nice crowded outdoor restaurant in the city where the noise from the packed court tables would drown out whatever they shared. Aiko didn't feel particularly hungry, but Mira went ahead and ordered enough for three people.

"What happened to Nijima-san is numbing you right now", she told her friend. "But just because you're not feeling hungry doesn't mean you don't need to eat." Facing Mr. Kurusu respectfully, she nodded. "I'll-I'll order for you too, if you want."

"Order sushi!", Morgana's high voice commanded her from beneath the table. "Now! I can smell it from here! It's driving me _crazy_! Man, why doesn't Tokyo have more outdoor seafood restaurants like this place does?!"

"Hmph! Gluttonous feline.", Pelagio remarked from somewhere overhead.

"Bird-brain!"

Once everyone was satisfied, Mr. Kurusu focused on Aiko. "Sorry about all that. Like you said, I wasn't always Akira Kurusu. Six years ago, I was Joker, the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

"And now a salaryman?", she noted, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

Looking down at his plain black business clothes, he chuckled. "Heheh. No, try teacher. Or at least that's the plan. I'm not quite done teacher's college yet."

Wide-eyed, she stared at him. "A teacher? But you're so young!"

"Actually, he's not really that much younger than Takao-sensei", Mira pointed out. "And teacher's college takes a _long_ time to complete."

Mr. Kurusu nodded back, knowing that all too well from his own experiences. "If I'd been a genius like Nijima-san, then maybe I could've skipped a year. But she always had the better grades. Not sure how she does it sometimes." Gulping down some fresh noodles, he leaned back into the chair.

"Well! That's my show and tell. And as you can see, I also have a cat. Who talks. A lot. And yes, he _is_ in fact a guy, _not_ a girl. His name is Morgana. What about you?"

When he put it that way, she couldn't help but feel outgunned, and was grateful to have Mira beside her for this. "Um, well... Most of the time, I'm Aiko Tsuruga. But sometimes, I'm Saber, the captain of the Dream Voyager."

Sensing his silent amusement, Mira waved it away. "It's a work in progress. Don't knock it."

"Wasn't planning to. We definitely had our fair share of melodramatics as well."

"Mira-chan is a member of our crew", she continued. "In the other world, she's Dancer. Pelagio is Guardian, and we have one other, Rosea-kun, who couldn't be here today."

The rest progressed naturally from there, with only the occasional snarky interjection from Morgana or Mirambela until they arrived at the subject of the Karma club.

"You're absolutely sure about that?", Mr. Kurusu confirmed, adjusting his glasses to focus. "You actually saw a Shadow emerge into the real world? And then they used Personas here?"

"Yes", she said in absolute confidence. There had been no mistaking Dantalian, or Cleopatra's terrifying power. Or Julian's Shadow, for that matter. "I'm also almost positive that I know how it is they're doing that now."

Mira hadn't heard this yet either, and pressed in closer to listen.

"It's the water", Aiko opened her palms as if revealing a great treasure. "Every time the gate at Yume bay opens up, some of the water from Faraway Lands leaks in through it. It's been happening for a good long while now. Long enough to cause some problems with the local sea flowers here, but not enough for many humans to notice it. Even if they did, they wouldn't know what was causing it."

"It's just like the Metaverse advent!", Morgana suggested over his beloved sushi rolls as his 'owner' mulled it over. "Only in super slow motion, so nobody sees it until it's too late. That's no good!"

"Better than what happened with us", Mr. Kurusu grunted. Of all the terrifying times he'd experienced with the Phantom Thieves, that was the event that stuck with him the most. So much that he'd devoted his life to fighting its root causes. "It sounds like the Karma club is taking full advantage of that phenomenon."

"Yes. They are", Aiko nodded grimly. "They've been paying all of the fishermen around here to deliver their local hauls to them. They don't really care how many fish they get, because what they _really_ want is the Faraway Lands water. They must have some way of distilling it from normal sea water."

"Which would allow them to create their own temporary pocket Metaverses", Mr. Kurusu said, his glasses flashing in comprehension as he palmed a tiny patch of stubble on his chin. "That has to be how they got Nijima-san."

That made sense, she knew. Makoto was a cop, after all. It would have taken something much more dangerous than some random thug for hire to throw her off a balcony like that. It couldn't have been Lady Scorpio- even she couldn't be in two places at once, and she never went outside, never left the club. Had it been Prince Taurus?

Was she going to have to tell Kotone that her dear brother was now an attempted murderer?

"I was on my way here even before that happened", Mr. Kurusu explained. "She told me that she'd discovered a new incarnation of the Metaverse here, and a new team of Persona-users who were dealing with it."

"That's us", Ai chimed in before the nonexistent visions of their friend's fate came flooding back. "I'm so sorry, Kurusu. We should've stopped them."

But the frizzy-haired young man was no more accepting of her self-pity than Mira had been. He placed a nimble hand against her hair, staring into her eyes with an expression of subdued pain.

"Tsuruga. You have no idea how many crimes I wish the Phantom Thieves had been able to stop before they happened. But that's _not_ on you. It's on the person who attacked her. No one else."

Mira made a gesture as if to say 'see?' before taking over talking to Mr. Kurusu. "So what are you going to do now?"

The former Phantom Thief looked like the question had caught him by surprise, leaning into his chair and searching the skyline for some sign of the nightclub currently under discussion.

"Well, my first instinct is to go find this 'Prince Taurus' guy you told me about, and rip his head off... But I'm thinking maybe that wouldn't be such a great idea."

"Good", Morgana gave a strong approval. "We can't let our emotions decide our plans, no matter how angry we are at what happened to Nijima-san. Also, we still don't know if your Personas will work or not."

Mira frowned at that. "Huh? Why not? It worked fine for Ai-chan."

"Her Persona was born in Faraway Lands", Pelagio cut in to Morgana's silent disapproval. "If Kurusu's Persona came from this 'Metaverse' that you describe, then it's possible that it may not function the same way here. Or at all. We cannot assume."

"Also", the former Phantom Thief added, "it's been six years since we _erased_ the freaking Metaverse. Even if it still works for me at all, I'm going to be rusty as hell."

Sensing her disquiet at that news, Mira gave her sideways glance. "Ai-chan? Are you okay now?"

"She's fine, Sorano. She's just disappointed", Mr. Kurusu noted, his casual tone unable to hide the deep, soulful understanding behind his specs. "She thought that being the leader of the Phantom Thieves, I could could magically snap my fingers and fix everything." Making a half-jesting face, he sighed. "Sorry. If I could do one thing, then I'd get Nijima-san fixed up. The docs say she's going to live, but... still. She's in for a rough ride, and they won't let us stay at her side for very long."

"I know", Ai nodded. "But even if you can't do that, I... I'd like it if you could become the new leader of the Dream Voyagers."

Silence reigned supreme. A diverse mix of expressions and gazes met her eyes, none of them decipherable until she was able to explain better.

"I... I made a huge mistake, okay? I know that it didn't have anything to do with what happened to Nijima, but... that doesn't change the fact that they were _waiting_ for us. For me. It was an ambush. I... Someone who screwed up that badly... I shouldn't be the leader."

Brushing his frizzy hair back, Akira rose out of his chair, considering for a moment before gesturing over to Pelagio, as if giving him permission to speak first.

Pelagio's voice was, as ever, carefully regimented, the very soul of noble courtesy, a classical masculine knight. Yet, she had listened to him enough to hear the sadness behind it.

"...You are my la- ...No. You are our _captain_. Making one mistake doesn't mean that you are no longer suited to be the captain. As your sworn protector, I still consider you to be the best possible leader of this pack of rogues."

Mr. Kurusu smiled back at the bird's forwardness, earning a scowl from Morgana. "Hey, I like this guy already. I bet he doesn't constantly bug you to go to sleep early either."

Aiko waved it away. "Don't go by Pela-tori. I like him too, but he's so loyal that he'd probably fly into a jet turbine if I asked him to. No offense."

"Then go by me", Mira said, firmly gripping her arm on the table. "In case you haven't noticed yet, Rosea-kun and I don't get along so well sometimes. He's egotistical, he's reckless, and he has no idea of the kind of dangers out there. But _you_ get along with him. And _I_ get along with _you_. You're the glue, Ai-chan. Without you, we'd just argue all day and accomplish nothing."

Morgana made a retching coughing sound which she didn't know a cat could make, and Mr. Kurusu stretched out before he began staring into her again. "So you got ambushed. Big freakin' whoop. We fell into some crazy traps too. And yeah, it made me feel horrible inside... and then I got over it. Had to."

"'Had to'", she repeated in half-jest. "Because if you stopped... what?"

A flash of frank embarrassment crossed his clean features, but the man's words were cold and precise. "Because. If the Phantom Thieves gave up as soon as things got tough for us? Then Masayoshi Shido would rule over this country. Maybe the world. And _that's_ the _best_ scenario."

Shuddering at the prospect, she drew back. "I guess that's the problem. We don't have nearly as noble a cause. We were only exploring Faraway Lands to try to help some of my friends."

But to her surprise, Akira _laughed_ at her deprecation.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what we were doing too. That's the _best_ reason to do something, I've found. We targeted Madarame to help Yusuke. We targeted Kaneshiro for Nijima-san, and Okumura..." His face fell, remembering the fallout from that particular mission.

"For Haru", Morgana finished for him, sounding thoughtful. "Akira, what I think she's saying is that they didn't have any kind of special cause that brought them together to start with. We had that. We wanted to bring justice, and punish evil adults for their crimes."

Far from being cheered by the reminder, Akira looked indifferent at that suggestion. "Justice? Was it ever really that simple? I honestly can't remember."

"Makoto wanted us to bring justice", Morgana reminded him sternly. "To steal the hearts of the corrupt, and to reform society. Everything else was just us trying to avoid getting arrested, really."

"You never had the option of backing down", Mira said softly, as if a light had been switched on within her. "No choice."

"No choice", Akira agreed, eyes narrowing. "It all started when I couldn't sit back and watch someone else getting hurt. It feels like I haven't stopped since then. Sometimes, I wish I could just learn to let it go."

"No you don't", she replied confidently.

Pausing, he nodded slowly. "No, I don't."

Feeling the worried silence at the table, he regained his mischievous smile. "Whoa, sorry. Didn't meant to bring the mood down. The point I'm trying to get at is that you girls have a noble cause already. Saving people's souls. Stopping these Karma people who are trying to use the other world's power for their own gain."

"And learning where I came from, if we are able", Pelagio chipped in innocently.

"You too?", Morgana's earlier antagonism towards him was suddenly replaced by empathy. "Wait, maybe it's the same thing? Maybe my master created you for some other purpose?"

"Your master?", Pelagio asked skeptically, winged folded tight. "Who would that be, brat, some sort of vile demon lord? I would think your master should be the one who kindly brought you here and looks after you."

"Easy now", Akira cautioned Morgana sensing his earlier aggression returning and his claws flashing. "Long story, but basically Morgana was created from human hopes and desires by this long-nosed guy named Igor."

Aiko's head shot up at the mention of that name. "Mr. Igor? You know him?"

Akira scratched his hair slowly. "Uh. Sort of. Most of the time, he was being impersonated by someone else, but his assistant caught me up on the gist of it after we freed the real deal."

"You know Bartholomew as well?"

He smirked. "Hey, what is this, a quiz show? No, his assistant back then was a girl named Lavenza. Sounds like he's working with someone different now."

Which brought Aiko back to their other point of commonality that she needed to talk about. "One more thing. Lady Scorpio wants to kill Mr. Igor."

At last, she'd managed to surprise him. Morgana too, if the tension in his normally energetic voice was a sign.

" **What?** They want to kill my master?!"

"I'm tempted to say _good freaking luck_ with that", Akira mused reservedly, palming his chin stubble in thought. "But then again, we don't really know the full limits of their power yet. Or much about Igor's nature, really. Who knows? They're Persona-users like us, and we know they're determined to get their way. They just might be able to pull it off."

" _Never_ ", Morgana vowed furiously, crawling closer to Aiko's seat just so she could see the will shining in those marble blue cat eyes. "Never! My master was assigned to shepherd the human psyche away from destruction. Without him..."

"Bad things happen. I get it", Aiko waved her hands defensively. "He only shows up in my dreams anyway. They can't reach him there, and he has Bart-kun there to protect him."

"All the same", Morgana insisted, "we can't relax. Not until all the leaders of this Masked Circle are taken down for good! I..."

Naturally, Akira was able to interpret the way his voice trailed off. "Think about it, Morgana. You'd be on your own. I'm pretty sure they don't let animals into the school dorms. If you got caught, no one would be here to save you."

"Excuse me?", Mira asked.

"He wants to stick around here after I'm gone", Akira explained in apology. "I only have one week's vacation here before I have to head back to Tokyo. Sure, if it's life and death I can stay longer, make up some excuse... but I don't think that's really enough time to do what needs to be done. That's the other reason that I couldn't take over as leader."

"I can find food for myself!", Morgana claimed impishly. "And I won't be alone. These girls... they aren't as skilled at this as you are, but they have some real potential in them. I can see it."

Looking down at him, Akira frowned. "So what this sounds like is you're planning to take over this team. Captain Morgana?"

"If it means we stop Karma faster, then I have to!", his companion protested. "I can't let them threaten my master! No way!"

His impressed snort drew their eyes back up to him. "Okay. Wow. I don't think I've ever seen you fired up like this before, Morgana. You're really okay with scrounging through restaurant dumpsters for food? Sleeping outside during the rainy season?"

Morgana said nothing to that. His claws ground into the slick wet pave stones until Aiko stood up over him, her eyes taking in both of their 'guests'.

"...It's okay. Kurusu-sensei, Morgana can go back with you when you leave."

"But-"

"Kurusu-sensei?", Akira remarked, cutting Morgana off. "Hah. I'm _way_ too young to be called 'sensei', and I'm not even done teacher's college yet. That aside, it sounds like you think you can handle it now."

Casting a brief glance at Mira to make sure it was alright, she nodded with a warrior's solemnity normally seen on Pelagio, carefully kneeling down to gently grab Morgana, and lift him up to her eye level.

"Mona-chan. I promise you that we _will_ stop the Masked Circle. They won't ever get the chance to hurt your master."

And Akira... the smile on his face felt like the first truly genuine one since he had arrived. "I believe you. Glad to see that you've got your head back in the game, Tsuruga."

"Nijima-san said we should forget about it", she explained sadly. "But I know now, that's not an option. I _can't_ just look the other way on this. Even if it's dangerous. And I know it will be."

"Nijima-san", Akira said, inevitably thinking back to his dear friend, "is strong, and smart, and is right almost all of the time. But not this time. Is that a contract, then?"

Copying his best smile, she nodded deeply. "Heh. I guess it is. You have my... No. You have _Saber's_ oath that we will neutralize the Masked Circle. No matter what it takes."

"You have Dancer's oath too", Mira chimed in.

"And Guardian's", Pelagio followed up. "And if the loudmouthed boy were here, I'm certain he would add his to this vow."

Letting Morgana be dropped gently onto his lap, he reached out a firm hand to shake Aiko's smaller one. "Then the Phantom Thieves accept your offer. With gratitude."

* * *

6/8 Saturday

Evening

Mirambela wished she could have ended their time together with Akira on that hopeful note, but she knew now that was at least one thing she had in common with Aiko. She couldn't just let things slide.

She caught up to him heading into a flat stone building she took to be an emergency rental residence with some other, more colloquial name that eluded her for the moment. With his original planned place of rest a crime scene under dedicated investigation, he likely had little else in the way of options, but he seemed to be able to pay the up-front fee easily enough.

"There's no place that takes pets now", he remarked wistfully without needing to turn and look at her. "Darn. Sojiro spoiled us. Looks like Morgana will have to sleep outside for now."

"I'm sorry", she said out of reflex, still not completely sure how the ex-Phantom Thief was about people drawing too close to him. While his easygoing expression conveyed an affability she didn't see in very many adults, his eyes also bore signs of a great deal of trauma in his past. Which was as expected of the Phantom Thieves' leader. "Where is he now?"

"He's scouting out the club", Akira shrugged helplessly. "He wants us to get started on our investigation first thing tomorrow."

"He really wants to stop them", Mira acknowledged gently, leaning against a scuffed white wall near the entrance. "So do I. But I warned Ai-chan about jumping into this, and your cat is _wazi-_ I mean _..._ he's not thinking with his head right now."

"It sounds like you've found your role then", he acknowledged smoothly. "The voice of reason, for when you think your friends are getting too reckless. Nijima-san was like that for us too. Good thing, since we had some real hotheads on our team."

"Mirambela Sorano", she formally bowed to him, remembering now that they had yet to be properly introduced to each other. "And I owe that much to Ai-chan, and much, much more."

"Well that does sound kinda familiar", he raised an eyebrow. "So that's why you're here, then?"

"Yes", she whispered nervously. Incredibly, it felt easier to talk about this with a near complete stranger than Aiko. She'd only been waiting for a stranger who knew the truth of Faraway Lands. "You saw us together in the hospital. You saw what she was like."

Akira slowly blinked, nodded. "Yeah. She looked about the way I felt inside when I heard what happened."

"Part of the reason why she felt so guilty about it", Mira explained, "is that the day before, she and the others went ahead and investigated the Karma club. Nijima-san asked them not to. _I_ asked them not to... and they did it anyway, without telling Nijima-san. Or rather, _she_ did it. Rosea-kun and Pelagio were at much less risk from the sound of it."

Flashing back once again, Akira momentarily remembered the assorted noises of a impossibly massive casino palace, felt the riotous flashing of the lights and the rapid movement of hundreds of cognitions along the gaudy floor. Heard Futaba scolding him through an earpiece for being a reckless showoff with tinkling shattered glass of every color as the backdrop, rainbows falling all around him.

It had felt like absolutely nothing could go wrong for him on that fateful November night. Nothing had, but there had been no real guarantee. He knew better. A million things could have happened to make their entire plan useless and guarantee his death in exactly the fashion their enemies had desired for him.

Sometimes, he woke up in bed thinking he was still in that interrogation room.

"Nijima-san told me about it. Your friend's got the wild card. And it sounds like she's the most capable one on your team regardless. Just like I was, back then."

"She definitely is", Mira agreed easily, forcing a smile of appreciation. "Pelagio's armor is thicker, and I'm faster and have better healing skills, but... I've _seen_ her fight Shadows. It's like watching some kind of professional ballet... and believe me, I've already tried to teach her normal dancing. It's not that. It's something... _else_."

"So, what's your problem then?", Akira murmured, though his tone suggested he already had an idea of why she'd come to him.

"The problem", she explained, "is that this isn't the first time that she's charged into a fight alone to protect us. When we fought Rosea-kun's Shadow, she volunteered to be the diversion, taunting him away from us, making him so angry that he focused entirely on her. When they fought against _my_ Shadow, she did the same thing, taking the lightning attacks. Giving Pelagio the safer task and putting herself at risk."

Akira frowned. "You're worried that she doesn't know how to delegate responsibility?"

"I'm worried that she doesn't _care_ about the risks she takes", Mira corrected anxiously. "Do you know what it was that she said to me when I questioned her about the risks in that mission to the Karma club?"

Akira considered carefully. "Something trite and cliched about the captain going down with the ship?"

" _No."_ Mira's face became stiff as the concrete. "She said 'not like we're risking that much if I go in alone'."

"Ahhh." Now he understood. Nodded. "Yeah. I've seen _that_ before too."

"Rosea-kun and I both have families", Mira continued, facing him resolutely. "Families that love us very much, even if it took a trip to another world to help us remember that. But Ai-chan? She has no father, no siblings, and a mother that she _fled_ from to come to Tosashimizu. When we first met, she told me that her goal was to turn Koashimizu academy into her _home..._ because she'd never had a home before."

"Possibly illegitimate too", Akira remembered from Makoto's report. Earlier encounters had prompted him to do some thorough examinations of Japan's foster care system, and a lot of what he'd found was disturbing on so many levels. _Just like... him._

Thankfully, Aiko Tsuruga hadn't turned out to be like Goro Akechi in _other_ ways as well.

"It... wasn't quite the same way for me", he conceded, Mira's incessant worrying having gotten into his voice at last. He pushed that dourness back with the intensity of the anger he still felt sometimes about the topic, that same anger infusing his words.

"I had a mom and a dad... I grew up just fine, until one night. Suddenly, my whole life was completely gone, and all because I'd chosen to stand up for someone else. The two people that I thought would always stand by me no matter what could do nothing but cry and ask _God_ what I'd done- what _they'd_ done- to deserve it."

"I'm so sorry, Kurusu-kun", Mira repeated softly. "It must have been very difficult for you to endure. Worse than anything I've been though."

"Everyone's got their own private horror stories", he relented, trying not to sound _too_ bitter- this girl deserved no part of his wrath. "Or most people anyways. Lucky for me, I found something else that helped to take the pain away. Something that let me strike back at people like the guy who destroyed my old life."

"The Phantom Thieves", she guessed. "You see, _that's_ why I'm worried about her. I think part of why she wanted so badly to hit the Karma club is because... Because I think she actually enjoys using her Personas to fight Shadows."

He offered up a low laugh. "Hey, guilty as charged. I'm not exactly a combat junkie, but come on. You can't deny there's a certain rush to it that you can't get anywhere in this world. If it wasn't so dangerous like you say, I'd have done it a lot more just for fun, and that's on top of all the good it did for people who needed our help."

"Such a-", halting, she reconsidered her words. "Maybe it's because you're originally from here. In my home country, the threat of death is often close. Far closer than we would like."

"Not the threat of death, Sorano", Akira corrected her firmly. "I'm not some kind of adrenaline junkie. No. For me, it was the chance for me to take out my frustrations on some real assholes who had it coming. Although, I'm sure that would've gotten boring fast if it was easy. It never was."

"And?", she asked hopefully. "What did your fellow Thieves do when you behaved that way in front of them?"

Knowing the truth before speaking it, his face fell. "...Nothing, really. I was the leader of the team. Should they get on my case just because it looked like I was _enjoying_ myself a bit too much during a heist? A happy Thief is a productive Thief."

"So they did nothing, and said nothing", Mira said, the realization tightening the breath in her throat. "And yet, you're still alive."

Holding out both hands from his shirt sleeves as if evidence of his own survival, he smirked. "We had a lot of close calls, that's for sure. But I see what you're getting at, Sorano. You think that Tsuruga cares more about your lives than she does hers. And maybe you're right. This last operation hit her hard, I can tell."

Glad to finally be heard and understood, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I know that she does. Why else would she have gone after me the way she did? Why go after Rosea-kun, and now Furusato-san?"

Distraught by her confidence in her claim, Akira regarded her cautiously.

"Yeah... that sounds kind of familiar, actually. When I saw them, the people who would eventually join me as the first Phantom Thieves, I mean... I saw the problems they were having at Shujin academy, and the chance I had to use the Metaverse to save them. So what if I had to risk my life for it? My life was pretty much over then anyway. I was doomed, and they weren't. Not yet. And I could change that. I could change the fates that rotten adults had already written for them, and all I had to do was go fight some monsters."

The chill running through Mira's tall frame was also familiar. It was how she'd felt when she'd first realized her suspicion of that bleak emptiness in Aiko Tsuruga's soul that she hid so well most of the time. Seeing it again in this seemingly carefree man heightened her fears of it.

What was it really like, to feel that emptiness inside? Her breakdown before entering Faraway Lands for the first time came to mind, but that had been more rage and despair driving her on.

"Please. Kurusu-kun, please. I can't _stand_ it", she implored him. "Before she came along, I was lost. Every day at school was torture for me, and the way I was thinking only made it worse. Without her... I won't make it."

The ex-Phantom Thief only looked worried for a moment, sliding his features back into an analytical but still caring gaze. "I doubt that's true, at least not anymore. If it was, then I'd suggest you try to fix it. Tsuruga can't be your rock forever. And it's unfair for you to expect her to be."

Mira grimaced lightly. _At what point did this turn from concern about Aiko to concern about me?_

Still, his words had the ring of painful truth about them. "You're saying if I show that I'm ready to be okay without her around, then she won't try so hard? Stop putting herself in harm's way?"

"You said it, not me", Akira pointed out flippantly. "But I think you're close."

 _Of course._ Like all the solutions to life's problems, the answer seemed simple to reach, but a trial to act on. Resolving herself to facing it wouldn't be nearly as difficult as leaving her Land behind had been, but it felt that way because it was less obviously urgent.

 _But it_ is _urgent,_ she knew. _It's urgent that she understand that she doesn't have to kill herself trying to protect Julian, Pelagio and me. And Nijima. She needs to figure out that we're not her responsibility, that she doesn't need to be a pillar for us all the time._

 _It's urgent that she realizes that she has limits on what she can do for us._

Processing all this in silence, she stared back into Akira's glasses, bright with reflected lights of the motel, and nodded. "I think that you're going to be a very good teacher, Mr. Kurusu."

Akira answer with his trademark mischievous smile. Joker's smile. "Darn, there goes my life's ambition of being a crappy teacher. But thanks. Y'know, it might seem obvious, but it was actually a teacher from Shujin who inspired me to try this. I owe her a lot."

"Funny", she smiled back. "I think she would probably say the same thing about you. Goodnight."

Akira made sure to continue his smile until he was sure the girl was gone, opening the door to his temporary residence, taking in the tiny shower and tinier kitchen before popping a window open and flopping down on the bed.

"...I failed her", he informed the blank white ceiling.

Morgana's stern voice came through the rear window to answer him. "And you call _me_ irrational. You didn't fail Nijima, Akira."

"Funny. Because I'm pretty sure if she was conscious, she might disagree."

Morgana made a distinctly feline noise of disgust. "You're just as bad as that Tsuruga girl, always taking the blame for everything bad that happens."

"I should have been there with her."

This suggestion took his old friend longer to process, but his annoyed tone remained. "So now we're back to this again, huh? Beating yourself up over not proposing to her earlier?"

"I wanted to", he muttered, removing his glasses in a jolt of self-loathing. "I just... I never found the right time. How the hell do you say that to someone?"

"Other people manage to say it all the time. Ryuji managed to say it. You had six years, give or take. Are you stupider than Ryuji, Akira? What stopped you?"

Eyes snapped shut against a sudden pain in his head, he rolled into the pillow. "Morgana, _please_. This isn't the time."

"...You're right. It's not the time. Not right now. Because she's still unconscious in an emergency room right now. But _when_ she wakes up, if you don't tell her how you really feel already, then I swear I'm going to shred all your college notes. I'll do it. Just you watch me."

Sleep wasn't easy, but he got there eventually.

* * *

6/9 Sunday

Afternoon

Coming back to the Tenjincho mall for their meeting made Aiko realize for the first time that she would probably have a superstition about meeting anyone in the lower portion of the building's food court for the rest of her life.

It was down there that everything had begun to go wrong.

Now it was time to make things go _right_ again. She was pleased to see both Julian and Mira respond to the morning's text message in good time, joining her at the upper portion of the mall before being led to one of the back outdoor areas where several large dumpsters stood arranged. The alley felt a bit cramped with them, but also private.

"Thank you for coming", she started, feeling rather than seeing Pelagio flutter down onto a perch where he could not only hear her, but watch for unwanted guests. "I know the last few days have been... tough. For all of us."

Julian, naturally, tried to downplay his own stress, arms folded behind his head as he leaned back against the wall. "Tsuruga-chan, you've had it rougher than both of us put together. If you're still up for this, how can I say no?"

"We made some mistakes", Mira confessed, her hands folded nervously behind her back. "All of us. I said some things earlier that maybe I shouldn't have. And I think you know already what mistakes you made, so I don't need to bring that up again, do I?"

"I appreciate that, Mira-chan", she smiled weakly. Akira's words to her yesterday had certainly helped, but they couldn't change what had happened. How she felt. "How about you, Pelagio?"

Her feathered friend's fierce eyes peered down at her in an approximation of polite surprise. "You are my captain, and I am your sworn protector. Though I have failed in that duty as of late, I will still continue to carry it out to the best of my abilities."

"Good." Trying to relax on an empty milk crate and not quite getting there, she took several seconds to settle. "Listen. I know that was a disaster. But it doesn't mean we came away completely empty-handed. I learned some important things about the Masked Circle that I want to share with you all now."

None of them looked surprised by her declaration. Jiachi even looked eager to find out what she had learned, though the quiet reservation on Mira's face brought back memories of their last talk in the dorms.

"Once I'm done, you can all decide whether or not you want to keep helping me. I won't force anyone, and any questions you have, please ask. Hiding things from one of my friends is what caused the problems."

Mira looked like she wanted to argue that point as she had before, but let it drop.

With a deep breath, she forced herself to face them eye to eye. "First off, they knew we were coming. More specifically, they knew that _I_ was coming. Lady Scorpio, who I'm pretty sure is their leader, has the power of her Persona, Cleopatra, to peer into Faraway Lands. She saw us fight Rosea-kun's Shadow. She wanted me to replace Queen Aquarius, who as we thought, has left them."

Julian's snicker echoed through the alley. "Idiots. They really think you'd do that?"

"They... she almost convinced me to", Aiko shocked them all with her confession. "Scorpio's Persona can also twist people's minds, and expose their hidden weaknesses."

Mira's eyes narrowed in ire, no doubt just as familiar with that type of power as any of them. _"Jamani. I_ _hate_ that stuff. Every time I use Marin Karin, I feel dirty."

Aiko nodded in sympathy. "This is just a warning. If we ever run into her again, we need to _stay focused_. Don't listen to Scorpio when she speaks. _Don't_ let her get into your head. I did, and she almost got me."

"So that's how she recruits people who call that phone line?", Jiachi asked. "Brainwashing?"

"Sort of", she shrugged. "I don't have all the details for that yet because we haven't seen exactly how they do it. But I can piece some things together from what I saw. She was talking about helping me find my 'inner will of destruction'. She said if I hadn't gotten my Persona already, then that would have let me Awaken."

"Then we make sure no one else at our school dials that number", Mira demanded. "Spread a rumor around about it being a scam. That'll stop it."

"That's a good idea", she nodded back. None of them liked the idea of another classmate being pulled into this conflict on the opposite side of it. "That brings me to the next problem- they didn't target Nijima-san because she knew us. They did it because she was leading police raids into the club, trying to find evidence of their plans."

"See?", Mira gazed into her triumphantly. "It wasn't your fault after all. It just feels that way because you didn't share any of this with Nijima-san earlier."

Above them, Pelagio cleared his throat. "Hmph. I believe what our captain wished to imply is that you all could potentially be in danger now. They have proven that they are capable of striking at any who dare oppose them, using the power of their Personas. Unless there's some other method I am not familiar with to blast a person straight through a glass door and off a balcony."

"Exactly", she confirmed, already taking note of the looks gathering on her friends faces as they began to realize that they could potentially become the next targets of the Masked Circle, and end up like Makoto or worse. "Lady Scorpio made it clear that she still thinks I'm going to join them, so I don't think they would go after me at least."

"Then why would they go after us?", Julian asked in confusion. "Don't they know that attacking us would just piss you off more?"

"They are _wazima,_ remember", Mira said regretfully. "This Scorpio woman might also believe that taking us away would leave you with no one else to help you."

"Or", Pelagio considered in a tone subdued by a rare show of true fear, "they may also threaten you in order to force our captain into compliance with their wishes."

"Exactly", Ai said. "That's why I want you to watch over both of the school dorms each night, instead of the Yume Bay. If you see someone sneaking in at night, just peck the window until we wake up."

Pelagio balked. "You are certain? That sounds..."

"Thin", Mira finished more firmly. "How can we be sure that will wake us up? Can we really defend ourselves against the same person who hurt Nijima-san?"

Thrown by the accusing look in her friend's eyes, Aiko slowly nodded. "I think that we can. Because I also figured out how they've been able to summon Personas in the real world."

"Yeah", Julian remembered. "You said it was the water, right?"

"The water from Faraway Lands", she confirmed. "The only reason they were able to do that in Nijima-san's home was because they set it up early, before she got back."

"This is true", Pelagio echoed. "One thing that the investigators found very strange was the large amount of moisture in the air of Nijima-san's living room. To them, it is merely normal water."

"They won't get the chance to do that in the dorms", she explained. "The dorm heads have phones to call campus security with if anyone tries to force their way in. Way too risky for someone who, until recently, was trying to stay under the radar."

"Still", Mira cautioned her. "If they can use their Persona's powers here..."

"If they can, then so can we", Aiko assured her more confidently. "That was the 'test' they hit me with. Locking me in a room filled with the fog and a Shadow, so I would either manage to summon my Persona... or die. It took me a lot of effort but as you can see... I'm not dead."

That didn't seem to be much comfort for Mira. Naturally, she would be anxious about the idea of having to wake up in the middle of the night and summon Oya to fight at a moment's notice. "I still don't like it. It's like sleeping with a gun under your pillow."

Ai's features slackened into surrender. "I know. I know it's a bad situation, and I'm sorry about that. I am. I wasn't thinking ahead. Now that they know that we know about them... I just want us to be prepared."

"If they do", Pelagio vowed, "I shall give them no peace. No chance to spread that mist into a dorm."

"Good for you." Turning, she regarded Julian now. "Still, we can't be too careful about this. I didn't forget that Rosea-kun hasn't had a chance to practice with his Persona's powers yet."

If anything, he looked offended by the suggestion. "Hey, I'll be fine. They mess with me, they're gonna regret it."

"Maybe", she admitted politely. "But remember, you might also need to protect other boys in your dorm from them too. I'd still feel better if you had a chance to train up with using Wild Bill in actual combat."

"Can't say no to that", he shrugged. "How, though? We can't enter the Yume Bay now."

"That's the next part of my plan", she acknowledged with a tight smile. "And don't worry. We're not doing anything stupid like attacking the club head on. For now, that's too dangerous. Kurusu-sensei is looking into that for us as well. Meanwhile, I've figured out a less risky way to hurt them."

Looking momentarily relieved, Mira shook her head in regret. "I suppose we have no choice, do we? If we do nothing, they might come after us anyway since we know their secret."

"That's pretty much it", Ai sighed. "They're the ones in the wrong here, not us."

"I never said that!", Mira protested indignantly. "I'm just..."

Both were surprised when Julian pushed away from the brick wall, grabbing their attention with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Sorano. I get it. You're scared. Really, _really_ scared. And you're trying as hard as you can not to blame Tsuruga for getting us into this shit pile."

"...Yes. Yes I am."

Walking over, Ai's arm anchored itself to the brick wall beside her, letting her lean in. "Hit me."

Mira's jaw dropped at the request. "E-excuse me?!"

Ai shrugged, already bracing herself, her eyes wide. "I deserve it. I _get it,_ Mira-chan. I know. I messed up big-time, and now the Masked Circle will be after us. If you want to hit me, then go right ahead. Slap me in the face. Punch me in the gut. Whatever."

"Ai-chan, please. You're scaring me."

Her friend looked scared too. Or at least, so rigidly controlled that looked that way when she turned to Julian. "Rosea-kun, you can hit me too. I deserve it."

To Mira's intense relief, Jiachi shared in her unease at this request. More in fact, because it hadn't been that long ago that a piece of his own consciousness _had_ hurt her very badly.

And now here she was, asking for more. "Tsuruga. I'm your friend. I'm _not_ hitting you. No freakin' way."

She shrugged as if they'd been discussing the weather, turning back to Mira. "If you want to blame me, that's totally called for. If you don't like me any more, if you want a different roomate-"

" _NO!"_

The frantic look on the older girl's face said all that she needed. "Please. I don't want to blame you. I don't want to hit you. It's not your fault. Not really. It's just like when you saved me."

"H-huh?"

"When you saved me", Mira repeated softly into the floor. "You made an enemy of Kujou-senpai. She's never going to forgive you for that. Just like the Masked Circle will never stop trying to get us, now that we know some of their secrets."

Julian made a rude noise. "Not exactly the same kinda thing. Pretty sure the SDC ain't gonna send Personas and Shadows to kill us."

"Our enemies accumulate", Pelagio noted in regret from his perch. "Yet, these people have become our enemies solely because we have committed the crime of not turning a blind eye to their sins."

"They're so... hateful", Mira shivered. Crippling fear and the need to support her friend were fighting a war within her, the victor unclear. " _Why?_ Why do they do it? What was done to them to make them think this way?"

Aiko put the other arm to her shoulder, understanding better now. "You're not talking about Karma and Kujou. You're talking about the Legion of Light too, right?"

"Uh-huh", Mira sniffled, eyes nearly shut.

"Heavy stuff", Jiachi noted beside them, dejected for once and his hands drifting down into his pockets. "But, Sorano-san... if you knew that you had the chance to get rid of all those d-bags... if you were the _only_ one who could do it... wouldn't you try?"

Shaking away the sniffles, Mira looked back into Julian's blue eyes, new thoughts at work in her mind.

"...No. Instead, I'd like to make them understand just how many people they're hurting, and all the fear they're causing. Then, they would stop."

But Julian shook his head at that idea. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Sorano-san, but you're wrong about that. They know _exactly_ how many people they're hurting. Legion of Light? More like Legion of Spite. They just don't give a shit. So, why should we give a shit about hurting them back?"

Inwardly impressed by the depth of the anger in his words, Aiko regarded him wryly. "So are you talking about the Legion, the SDC, or Karma?"

" _Yes."_

She laughed. She needed to, to release some of this tension. "For the record, I'm definitely not planning on going out and making an enemy out of a terrorist group any time soon."

"The solution seems quite simple", Pelagio said to the three of them respectfully. "An enemy remains an enemy until either you or they are destroyed."

Ai shrugged helplessly before Mira. "Pretty much. If I thought it might get them to spare you three, then I might actually consider joining up with them. But we can't trust them. That's the problem."

 _The problem?_ Mira had to silently disagree with that. _No, the problem is that you don't value yourself at all. You just asked me to_ punch _you. You asked Julian, who can hit way harder than me, to punch you._

 _Because you think that you deserve to be hit for your mistakes._

 _And if I can help save you from that problem, then I'll face this peril. I owe you that._

Taking Aiko's offered hand, she stood. "Alright. I don't like it, but here we are. If we have to take them down to be safe, then we can at least try."

"Thank you", her friend breathed. "That's why I wanted to get started on that today. We'll stay in touch with Kurusu-sensei of course... But we can also do our own plan. Anything we do now distracts them from his investigation, makes it less likely that they'll see him coming."

"Sounds good", Julian agreed. "What's the plan then, uh... 'captain'?"

She blinked in annoyance. "Now don't you start."

"Why not?", he gave a lopsided grin. "Aren't you training with that Byzael dude to learn how to run a ship?"

" _Captain_ ", Mira emphasized a bit too loudly, trying to bring attention back to business. "What's the plan?"

Giving up all hope of stopping them from using that title, Ai drew back. "Okay. Another thing that I saw at the club. They're using these black boxes to transport Shadows, filling them up with enough of the special water so that they don't just disappear."

"Treating 'em like cargo", Julian growled. "Or servants, if the way Zangiefhonda acted towards my Shadow is any sign."

"Yes. And I saw that not all of them were stored at the club."

Mira frowned. "What? Why? Why not just keep them all safe there?"

"I have a few ideas", Ai noted. "Probably to hide them from the police. The point is, I saw the chart on the wall in the dressing room. There's a few places around here that they're storing _something_. Something they don't want people to find."

"And if it's a Shadow, then we take it down", Jiachi smirked in comprehension. "Haha. Easy."

" _Not_ easy", she warned him, sticking a finger in his face. "Don't think like that, not even for a moment. The Shadow I faced in the club was pretty strong, and this one might be stronger."

"But how do we find it?", Mira asked. "Sure, you saw the general location on a map of Tosashimizu, but we don't have all day to search."

"Well, we have two things that can help us with that", Ai promised, pointing upward. "One of them is right above me. Pela-tori can fly around faster than us and scan the areas on the map for any sign of a hiding spot."

"It would be my honor, captain", Pelagio called warmly.

"What about the other thing?", Jiachi asked curiously.

She couldn't quite manage to share in his energy. Not yet. The earlier wounds were too fresh. But she could certainly relax enough to set them all at ease as she led them out of the mall's back alley.

"Come with me. I'll introduce you to him."

* * *

Persona Profile #5: _Lorelei_

Arcana: Moon

Strength: Wind

Weakness: Lightning, Bless

Abilities: Zan, Mazan, Makajam, Life Drain, Lullaby, Bufu

Background: A beautiful river maiden who lives at the frozen rock of the same name on the Rhine river in Germany. She lures sailors to their doom with her enchanting song. Made famous in Heine's poem. In ancient times, she was seen as one and the same as a river goddess, but the menacing rock and heavy currents turned her into a witch that drags men below the waters to keep as drowned trophies.

* * *

A/N: Yes, even in cameo roles, Makoto is best girl.

Originally, I had intended for her to be the only human character from Persona 5 to actually be in this story, but reconsidered when I realized that without a bit more guidance, my new team might flail around for too long without the confidence and assurance needed to face their current dilemmas. Also, I couldn't pass up the chance to have Morgana and Pelagio butt heads with each other. I still mean to keep Akira as more of a mentor figure than the star of the show, but we'll see what comes.

Happy belated Valentines Day.


	33. Showtime!

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Faces Shifting In The Wind_

 _Which Ones Can You Know Have Sinned?_

* * *

6/9 Sunday

Afternoon

Limned with partial rain, the cemetery spread out before them had a bitter silence covering it that made it difficult to speak. It was impossible to tell if it arose from a deeply-ingrained need to respect the people who had been buried beneath the rows of damp headstones flanking the path forward... or if something else was at work here. Something which would be invisible to most humans.

It felt wrong for them to be here among the headstones, and Aiko could sense a growing uneasiness in her allies that made her pray she had been correct.

It also made her want to stay at Father Shigetsu's side all the more, to ensure that he wouldn't fall. While he'd initially been thrilled at the idea of helping them, he was now as cautiously silent as the others, a sense of gloom closing on them all until he spoke up simply to clear away the bad air.

"This is not the end, children. We are more than the crude bones which are stored here. That, at least, is what I have chosen to believe and teach."

"It's what most people believe", Mirambela acknowledged beside him. "That some part of us lives on, among the spirits. It goes to join our ancestors."

"Yes", the aged priest nodded, pressing his cane into the moist earth carefully. "I suppose recent discoveries only strengthen that belief. We should consider ourselves blessed to witness such phenomena in our lives."

"Sorry if I don't exactly feel blessed", Jiachi remarked belligerently. "It feels like..."

"Yeah", Aiko said without needing to hear the rest. "Like something here is weighing us down. Something... that we can't see."

"The dead", Shigetsu told the three teenagers, "are not at fault. They are at peace. It is the monster lurking in the graves which has done this, and it is my very great pleasure to be able to assist in its exorcism."

Stopping, he turned, pointing towards a particularly large and detailed headstone. "There. Behind that stone. I can sense it. Whenever I come here, my... my injury begins to hurt again."

Sure enough, behind the stone they saw how the tall grass fell away into a large funnel of removed earth, something that looked like a grave halfway finished. Only darkness lay beyond it, and the team hesitated.

"Father", Aiko tried, clapping a supporting hand to his shoulder. "You've really helped us out. But this could be dangerous. You don't have to be here if you don't want to."

Shigetsu smiled gently, his eyes closed. "Ah, but I do want to be here, miss Tsuruga. It is my duty as a man of God to witness this demon's removal."

"...I see." Knowing from the start that this was how it might turn out, she looked into him more intently, eager to prevent another disaster in the making.

"Then, please. Don't try to remove this thing yourself. Just stay back, and let us do it. And, uh... please try not to freak out, okay?"

Amused by her concern, he obediently hiked over to sit under a nearby tree, Mirambela joining him to make sure.

Sensing Julian's own concerned gaze on her back without needing to check, Ai shrugged. "He got us this far. And everyone except for us thinks he's crazy."

"If you say it's okay, it's okay", Jiachi remarked, one hand drifting down to his belt, feeling the tools there. "I just hope this is worth it."

"Me too. Hey, you still want to try this alone? You don't have to. I can-"

Julian smiled back. "Hey, you said I needed the practice, right? We all know you'll jump in anyway if I get into trouble."

She snorted. The very idea that they would do anything else in that situation seemed too preposterous to even entertain. "Just answer me one question, then."

"Go ahead."

"Back in your Land, when you were dueling your Shadow... Did you know that he would avoid shooting you anywhere that could kill you?"

Julian froze up. It had taken her quite some time to work that part out as well. No matter how much that fiery monster of a Shadow might have blustered on about how much he hated his 'other', even the Shadow would have known that directly killing Jiachi would also kill him.

At least, she _hoped_ that was the reason.

"...No", he confessed quietly. "Sorry. I didn't know that. I just knew that I was the one that he would focus on, even more than you. Because... He was me, and I was him. Which of us would die there, I left up to whatever Gods there are."

"I thought so", she said unhappily. "I guess we got lucky. Be careful, okay?"

"You already told me that like four times", he reminded her patiently. "Just believe in me."

It took the both of them pulling to haul the black box up out of the dirt, dragging it up onto the grass. But the moment they had, Aiko spotted the locking mechanism, identical to the one from the Karma club, already beginning to turn. _Eager. Not a good sign._

Taking a deep breath, he touched it, and the box lid flew open with a speed surpassing the Dantalian, releasing both mist and a formless black fluid that absolutely reeked of heartache and bereavement and a thousand other negative emotions bleeding into each other.

Julian stood with his legs spread, waiting for the strange mist shroud to fully engulf him, creating a small pocket of space where Shadows and Personas could exist, albeit in a weakened state. Waiting until the puddle was all the way out onto the grass before reaching down and focusing his mind back to that time back in the sepia-toned dream land when his coyote-shaped Shadow had fallen.

Fallen, and given rise to something else.

 _Feel the fire rise up in your heart. I Am Thou. Thou Art I._

His hands touched the grips.

" _DRAW! Wild Bill!"_

Bright blue flames flared out and wreathed him head to toe, quickly falling away to reveal his outfit changed to the same one from Faraway Lands.

Exhausted after the long and painful battle, Aiko had only caught a glimpse of it before, but now she could see every detail. A long, dark red coat, the lapels lying open to show a series of clipped black belts running over a shirt. Seamless black shoes and pants covered his athletic legs, and a thin gun belt lay across his waist.

Finally, a cloth bandanna of the same color wrapped around his left eye and a fair part of his head, while the right eye focused in on his target. His Persona remained a graven cowboy specter floating next to him. Faint, but still visible to everyone who saw. Even Shigetsu.

Julian's initial worries about detection didn't stop him from pulling out and firing what had, moments ago, been a mere plastic toy revolver even faster than he had on his own Shadow.

And one loud gunshot was all it took. The ooze recoiled in animal pain, swelling and contorting before bursting into a form that the puddle should not have logically been able to contain. A towering brown-skinned man with a dark chestnut beard hanging down his thin spindly body for nearly a meter and flashy yellow coat covering the rest. Long tufts of bright red hair covered the creature's eyebrows, moving in the sudden breeze.

Dark eyes like knots of oak stared down at Julian, and the mouth beneath the beard twisted into a scowl. "Disturbing my slumber? Of course. You humans just can't leave us alone, can you? But I'll make sure you pay for that insolence this time!"

Jiachi gave his favorite relaxed, cocky smile, and reached down to his belt to grab his second weapon, dexterously spinning it around his other hand in a move designed only to impress onlookers. "Woo. Big boy, aren't ya? Well that's just fine. Let's get this crazy party started!"

The Shadow was not impressed by his moves. It lunged with a speed that belied its height, gnarled branch-like hands reaching out to shred the impudent boy who had dared challenge him. Fortunately, Aiko saw that this wasn't one of those annoyingly tough Shadows who could ignore most forms of pain- when Julian fired into an offending hand, it would fly back away from him and prompt a hateful grunt from its owner.

 _Not a physical threat after all,_ she noted. _Meaning that it's probably like Dantalian. Its main attack is some kind of elemental skill._

She didn't have to wait long to be proven right. Frustrated by the way Jiachi was easily dodging his arms, the Shadow moved them into a cross shape. "Be cursed! _Eiha!"_

Finally faced with something too fast to avoid, Julian gritted his teeth through the surge of darkness howling around him for a moment, then quickly returned to rapidly spinning his weapons, pumping a quick triple burst of bullets into the enemy. Appearing overwhelmed for a moment, the creature withdrew, one tree branch arm rising up into the sky as if it was trying to grab the faded sun.

"You insolent... have this, then!"

The clenched hand was merely a distraction. Instead, purple gas boiled out of the Shadow's small thicket of a mouth, avoiding everyone else but quickly blowing into Julian and leaving him hacking and coughing helplessly.

 _Poison_ , Ai realized with a disjointed lurch, recognizing the gas from several of the Shadows they'd confronted in Jiachi's own Land, such as the giant snake. They had packed medicine for the occasion of course, but taking a moment to apply it might give the enemy the opening they wanted.

Instead, Jiachi ran closer to the enemy, firing all the while to keep its gnarled hands far away from him. "That's how you wanna play it, huh? _AGILAO!_ "

Ai winced away, expecting the conflagration of flame erupting from the Shadow before it happened. It spread quickly, immolating the tree limbs and beard and filling the cemetery with the Shadow's ghastly wails as the excess heat panned over her skin.

But something else was coming out of the creature's mouth as well. Another gas, bright blue but glossy enough to be easily spotted in the evening light. As the resulting cloud began to succumb to gravity, Julian looked around for an escape route and found none.

" _Zan."_

Green winds flew in to mix with the blue, driving both off into the distance. Searching for the source, Ai could see Mira poised and ready, the ethereal shape of Oya floating at her side. Shigetsu looked about ready to run, but Mira still had one arm clutched to him.

Ignoring that as well as the venom now ravaging his system, Julian spun and holstered one gun, pressing his gloved hand to the bottom of the creature's yellow jacket. _"_ Later, Shadow dude. _Agi."_

The smaller fire wasn't as dramatic, but it kept the enemy writhing around helplessly until a final bullet zinged beneath its shoulders, reducing it to smoldering embers and dissipating the fog shroud at the same time. Within seconds, his outfit had returned to a normal T-shirt and jeans, and his guns had reverted to mere plastic toys.

Only then did Shigetsu finally break free of Mira's grip, running out onto the field. He looked at Julian in awe, then at Aiko, then down at the fading remnants of the Shadow... then back at Julian.

"You..."

"I told you not to freak out", Aiko reminded him urgently. "And that you might need to keep what you saw here a secret."

Speechless, he turned back to her. His eyes asked all that needed to be.

"Yes", she nodded. "I have that power too. What we _don't_ have is the power to sense where the monsters are."

He looked like he was about to fall over still and Mira prepared herself to support him, but he got his cane out just in time. "And I do", he whispered in fearful wonder. "I do. Is that... because I was...?"

"We're... not sure", Aiko provided carefully, knowing they were on thin ice. "Our powers came to us when we were confronted by the monsters for the first time, to stop them from killing us."

She had met with Father Shigetsu long enough to know his fear was not only of Shadows, but of what he believed them to be.

 _If Shadows are 'demons', and he can sense them only because he was bitten by one six years ago when he lost his leg, then what does that make him? Contaminated?_

Luckily, he seemed all too happy to make the other connections there too. "Powers that were granted to you by the wisdom of God", he decided. "To you pure-hearted children, to save you from evil."

"Yes, father", she agreed, not wanting to argue with him. It was as good a reason as any. "And we want to use these powers to destroy all the monsters hiding in Tosashimizu."

His eyes rose in euphoria. "Bless you all. If only Noel..."

"Vitienne-kun is more pure-hearted than we are", Mira told him without hesitation. "We didn't even know about these powers until we got them. If he didn't, then there must be some other reason why."

"Of course", he nodded back piously. "There is always a reason. Perhaps his time has not yet come. Regardless, I will of course do whatever I must to help you locate the demons and expel them from this Earth."

Mira took him on ahead, the others deliberately hanging back despite his slow pace so that they could talk more freely. "You were reckless", Ai started before Julian could speak. "All that posing and twirling your guns? If Mira hadn't stepped in when she did-"

"I was fine", he insisted defiantly. "I just wasn't expecting the sleep gas, that's all. Besides, when you're doing something like that, you've gotta look cool."

Trying not to snap at him, she regarded him skeptically. "Look cool? Why? How does that help?"

"Because they see it too", Jiachi shrugged as if it were obvious. "And if that makes 'em think you're better than them, then you've already won."

"An interesting notion", Pelagio's voice called down to them from a darkened tree. He'd been hiding there, not speaking so as not to scare Shigetsu any more than he was already. "However, I should think it would be more practical to simply fight in the most efficient way without any such antics, boy. Do that, and the enemy will die, and what they think of you will no longer matter to anyone."

Still, the sardonic grin on Jiachi's face made her want to believe in what he was saying. "Trust me, Tsuruga-chan. I've seen it happen in sports loads of times. When a team acts all confident and pulls out some cool, stylish moves, then the other team starts to doubt if they're good enough to win. And _that_ doubt slows 'em down, and before too long, they get proved right."

"This is not one of your human games", Pelagio argued irritably. "This is _warfare._ These Shadows seek to devour you, body and soul. They will not care how stylish or 'cool' you appear, _boy._ "

"Stop it", Ai waved them both down before they could start bickering again. "We've had enough fighting for one day." Continuing down towards the lights of buildings, she looked around and began to realize just how dark it had gotten in the short amount of time they'd been in the cemetery, almost fully night now.

"I don't think we should fight at the box location any more either. Veil or no, we were lucky no one spotted us here. What we should do is grab the box, and bring it to someplace secluded where we can open it up and dispose of the Shadow properly. Someplace close by, if we can."

Jiachi looked thoughtful. "The West Kosashimizu shore? No fishermen use it 'cause it's too rocky, and it's out of sight of the campus."

"Maybe", she considered, itchy about using any space that was open like that. "Not outside. I'd say the cavern at Yume Bay if we could reach it. Maybe there's another cave further along the beach that we can use."

"I shall search the area for such a location, captain", Pelagio vowed before gliding off in the direction of the general hospital. Following his course distracted her long enough for Jiachi to pull ahead of her, but once she'd caught up she started again.

"The posing aside, you did good today, Rosea-kun. Next time, we'll try fighting together."

"Sounds fun", he smiled back. At some level, it was nice to know that his first direct battle against a Shadow hadn't traumatized him, or robbed him of his will to fight. "About that... I should get a code name as well now, right?"

"I suppose", she admitted, knowing this had been coming for a long time. "And you've probably already got one in mind, right?"

"Duh", he shrugged. "But let's hear yours anyway."

She considered for a moment. "Trickshot."

Jiachi looked hurt. "Oh come on. I wasn't that bad about it, was I?"

"Just saying", she insisted. "Pela-tori's not wrong about that. Spend too much time being 'stylish' and you lose track of what's happening around you." Trying again, she flashed back to the red jacket that had garbed him until the Shadow had fallen, dispelling the dimensional pocket. "Hunter."

"Better", Julian allowed grudgingly. "I was thinking... Gunslinger."

Not particularly caring any more, she shrugged. "Sure. Gunslinger it is." The excited look in his eyes was all the sign she needed that she'd made the right choice.

Glancing back at the cemetery's headstones however, left him with a more concerned look in his eyes. "So... we really don't know, huh? Or did you just lie to the old man?"

"No", she confessed gloomily as the rain began to strengthen once more. "I really have no idea what lets us summon Personas in the other world. Neither does Pela-tori. Lady Scorpio said that many people our age have the potential, but... then, what decides who has the 'potential', and who doesn't?"

"It sounds like", he said, "you're asking the same kinda question as 'why are we here'? Something old guys like Shigetsu try to answer, but can't. Not really."

Her eyebrow shot up. "Not particularly religious, then?"

He grinned back cheekily. "Nah. Not really my thing. Those kinda deep questions, I leave for people who actually care about the answers. End of the day, I'm me. And that's all that matters."

"I suppose so", she acknowledged, the familiar prickle of curiosity a welcome one after recent tragedies. It meant seeing Makoto's fate hadn't broken her completely after all, even if it still hurt. "What about you, then? What's it feel like when you summon Wild Bill?"

For once, Jiachi looked pensive. "Kinda hard to explain. I just... I thought about all the stuff that I saw in my Land. About how that wasn't actually who I wanted to be. Got me thinking about who I _did_ want to be. Thinking about people I wanted to protect. Like my mom, my brother... even my old man. Then... poof."

She smiled back at him. "Actually, it doesn't sound so hard to understand at all."

The memory of awakening Anne Bonny would forever be a part of her as well, just like the feelings and sensations that had been flooding through her mind and soul at the time:

 _ _The chaos corrupts the land which you sought to make your own home, expelling all that you represent, an outcast. To them, you are nothing. You have no home now, save for the roiling sea of human consciousness. Yet that can be a home as well, for the one willing to show their strength to those who oppose them, and embrace their inner selves entirely. Do you accept your role as a traveling outcast, or shirk from this prospect?__

 _ _Without the strength to accept thyself that sleeps within, you will become as nothing. You will die like a dog, and none shall be left to mourn your passing.__

"I saw the world", she offered by way of explanation. "I saw all the despair, all of the anger and sorrow in it. I'd just seen Mira-chan scream and curse out the whole school before she ran out into the sea, trying anything to make it stop. And... something in the back of my head just said 'No. This isn't right. This isn't what life is supposed to be'."

"Maybe it is", Julian pointed out quietly, suddenly withdrawn. "Maybe whatever big head honcho actually calls the shots in this reality wants us to be miserable."

 _ _All of these people have already identified all that you are, believing you hold the potential for greatness within you. Will your allow your own fear and self-doubt to deny them this gift?__

"No", Aiko countered, for once having absolute confidence in her words. "No, I can't believe that. And even if I did... _I_ don't want it to be that way for people all the time. So I'll fight. I'll fight both here, and in the other world, if it means inspiring people with the me that they see, no matter how much it hurts. Running away to another world... that isn't the answer. We have to try to improve the world we have now, not just give up on it because we don't like it."

Jiachi gave a soft chuckle. "Says the big city girl who ran all the way here from Tokyo."

" _Completely_ different. Tokyo and Tosashimizu are still the same world. Although..."

Mock alarm colored his reply. "Although?"

"Although, sometimes it feels like Tokyo really _is_ its own world. A world of light and color that drowns everything else out."

"I hear ya. All the TV shows we watch, the websites we visit? 99 percent of that stuff is broadcast from and focused around Tokyo. Sometimes, its enough to make a guy wonder if the rest of the country even exists to 'em, or anyone else. Not jelly, of course."

She had to laugh at that. "Oh, as _if_ you're not jealous. You can't tell me you've never wanted to visit."

"Well, if all the Tokyo girls are like you, then..."

Giving him a playful shove and laughing, she ran on down the hill after Mira and Shigetsu.

* * *

With her long hair stretched out messily behind her and arms folded at the sides of the bed, Makoto Nijima looked more relaxed than Aiko could recall seeing her when she was awake, her colored lips still and her eyes resolutely closed.

It still hurt to look at her, even from across a large glass window. But that pain, she knew, was well deserved. Far worse would have been not visiting her out of fear. Fear of the pain, and fear that she might wake up and immediately accuse Aiko, no matter how many times Akira told her that Makoto wasn't the type to make accusations lightly.

"She's out of the danger zone", an elderly nurse promised her. "No blood loss. All that's left to do is to make sure there's no lingering bone damage from the fall. I know you're frightened for your friend, but you should know that it could have been much worse."

Her whole team was waiting for here when the main doors slid open again, even though the rain had reached its peak forcing them all to pop open their umbrellas. Pelagio, normally an inscrutable predator's visage hiding the empathy worthy of someone who called themselves a 'sworn protector'.

Julian, still poised with the giddy adventure-seeking energy that had been awakened along with his Persona.

Mirambela, whose face no longer held even a hint of quitting on them, poised with her umbrella to shield both Pelagio and herself.

"One down", Jiachi commented casually, arms folded into a tough-guy pose. "Heh. Won't those d-bags be surprised when they go to the cemetery and find an empty box."

"They'll be angry", Mira said more worriedly, her hands clenching on the handle. "If they figure out who it was, then they might come after us."

"I shall honor my vow", Pelagio said. "I am my captain's sworn protector, but to protect you two is to protect her as well. No harm shall come to you while I yet breathe."

"Thank you", Aiko nodded back in gratitude, not just to Pelagio but to all three of them. "We won't just be picking off the black boxes with Shigetsu's help though. That's just the beginning. There's someone else that I think we should talk to about taking down the Masked Circle."

"Someone else?", Mira sounded eager for once, glad that they were seeking out more allies who could help them. "Who?"

Seeing a permissive look from their leader, Pelagio moved forward, just barely still within the umbrella's protection. "Hex."

Sensing Mira's confusion, Aiko took a moment to scan the skyline, hoping the simple mention of the name might summon the vigilante in question to them. No such luck.

"Sorry, Mira-chan. We weren't deliberately keeping you out of the loop or anything. It just never came up. Pelagio mentioned it to me yesterday afterwards."

"Hmph. Several days ago, I was frantically searching earlier for a way to enter the Karma night club and find a way to save our captain after her phone stopped functioning", the falcon explained. "To my relief, I saw an open window on the second floor and flew in through it. Then, once inside, I saw him. Hex."

Annoyed more by the amused her surprise was putting on Jiachi's face, she glared at him. "What? Hex was there at the Karma Club?"

"On my honor", Pelagio replied smoothly. "His mask and outfit is rather unique."

"But that means... oh no. What if Hex was actually working for the Masked Circle all this time?"

"We briefly considered that possibility", Pelagio said with a glance at Aiko. "We found it unlikely."

"Their goals have nothing to do with each other", Aiko pointed out calmly. "Hex goes around at night beating up criminals. Also, Hex never used the special water- if he was really in cahoots with the Masked Circle, he'd definitely want them to give him a Persona to help him do that job."

"Less hypothetically", Pelagio continued, "when I saw Hex, he was not producing the body language of someone safely in a hideout controlled by allies. Instead, he looked very cautious. Paranoid, eager to avoid detection just as I was. Naturally, he seemed very confused by the sight of me in the middle of the club's 2nd floor. I would estimate his objective there was to steal something by the look of it."

"So he's prolly against them, not with them", Julian explained cheerfully. "Not sure how much he really knows about them so far, but there's no harm in sharing what we know. All we gotta do is get in touch with him, let him know that he's not dealing with normal criminals here, and that we can help."

He made it sound so simple that Mira had to yield to the overwhelming need to bring him back down to earth. "We don't know anything about Hex though. Besides, the only people who ever see him are criminals who are about to get put in the hospital!"

"Not quite true", Aiko pointed out. "We almost caught a glimpse of Hex about a month ago, when we found those two punks all beaten up in the alley near the Bird of Hermes. And Pela-tori has been able to catch sight of him a few times before now."

Preening freely in the dry space created by Mira's umbrella, Pelagio bobbed his head. "After we caught sight of each other, Hex ran for the window and leaped out through it. Fortuitously, it only took me a minute longer after that to locate the fire alarm and trigger it."

"If Hex really is a hero of justice", Aiko claimed, "then he'll want to take down the Masked Circle too." Another avenue occurring to her, she chuckled. "I suppose we could always claim to be the Phantom Thieves. _That_ would get his attention."

"Maybe", Mira allowed. "But we can't stay out late looking for him. We have a curfew. Ekuya-senpai won't let that slide."

"Birds don't have curfews", Ai reminded her before turning to Pelagio. "Sorry. I don't mean to keep putting so much on you. If we're lucky, you won't have to."

"It is no trouble", he vowed solemnly. "I will do anything to protect my captain... and our crew."

* * *

6/10 Monday

Afternoon

Deflecting a rapid lunge from Keta Rurichiyo and twisting it around into her own that nearly tagged his shoulder, Aiko allowed a tiny smile beneath her mesh.

 _Okay. Maybe I can go with this._

As usual, time had begun to heal the festering mental wound of everything relating to officer Makoto Nijima. More importantly, spending the last few days merely living her life as relatively normal had begun to soften her initial rejection of the idea of never going back to Faraway Lands.

 _Normal being a relative term here,_ she acknowledged as she saw Keta launch them both into a prolonged series of back and forth, one tinking foil pressing into the other until his left foot finally gave out, giving her the opening needed to land the next hit as well.

Signaling for a breather, the tall boy backed off to the wall and pulled his mask free, letting loose the kind of grateful breath that everyone in the class had come to expect from that action with how heavy the masked helmets felt after a few sessions.

'Everyone' meant a fair bit more now, even with Julian's exile. Three more students had signed up since then, exceeding the minimum requirement for the first time. With Kotone and Keta, this created the potential for three training pairs, though naturally these pairs were unequal. Keta was perhaps the only one who had kept up with Mr. Umaeda's strict lessons as well as her, but even he lacked the other advantage she'd been feeling the effects of lately.

Looking back, it was only natural. She'd originally helped to restart the fencing club partly out of a desire to gain sword training to fight Shadows. A previous schedule of going to the other world to fight Shadows alternating with these sessions made it clear that the opposite was also true. Experience fighting Shadows in Faraway Lands was also helping her to do better at the club.

Taking her own mesh helmet off felt as natural as summoning a Persona, and the outfit beneath it just as natural as the captain's greatcoat that appeared on her whenever she was there. This was always the most exciting class for her, the one she looked forward to, and even she had to confess that it was more than enough adrenaline rush for anyone who didn't have some kind of problem in that regard.

From the look on his sweating face, Keta felt the same way. "Man. Got me again, Tsuruga-chan. Either you practice way more often than you should, or you've got some kind of natural gift."

The praise made her cheeks feel warm, and she shook it off to focus on the real objective here. It was hard, though. "Thank you. You're very good too, Rurichiyo-senpai."

"I know", he smirked. "Too bad neither of us is good enough to land a hit on Umaeda-sensei yet. Maybe if we double-teamed him?"

"Maybe later", she joked back. White-bearded Mr. Umaeda was giving more attention to the other pairs these days, but she knew that he had been keeping an eye on their progress as well.

"Actually", Keta said, heavy gray eyes glancing over at Kotone's attempt at a riposte, "recently, he's been talking about a national tournament that's coming up soon. So don't be surprised if he wants you to try out, teacher's pet."

"Seriously? The nationals?"

The mere idea was too much flattery to bear for a moment. Once her head stopped spinning and she could think again, it could form a clear picture of what she thought it might be like. _Some kind of stadium, crowds on every side, cheering us on..._

 _It could all be an assumption though. Umaeda was only asking about it. He didn't say anything about putting his students in. You've only been doing this for two months, don't get ahead of yourself._

 _Besides, you've got more important things to deal with right now._

"Rurichiyo-senpai", she began timidly, not sure how fast to push. "I'd like to meet you somewhere in private after this, if it's okay."

Surprised by the request, the dark-haired boy took a moment to gaze back at Kotone, as if getting permission to proceed. "Sure, I'm free for a few hours. Got a science test to get ready for, but it can wait. We can meet at the shack."

She was very careful not to let it slip to any of the other members. Her friendly talk with Kotone afterwards was carefully kept away from anything to do wither brother Ryuken. Instead, for a change of pace it was her who brought the surprising news.

"Fushima-senpai came to me the other day at lunch", the ponytailed girl explained nervously. "She said she quit the SDC."

Which came as a surprise. Maika Fushima was a pale, elegant-seeming second-year student possessing a wide collection of fancy clothes that she wore in lieu of the school uniform whenever possible. She also had a habit of damaging the clothes or property of 'gaijin' students and claiming it was an accident. Later on, Ai had recognized her as one of Benihime Kujou's close friends.

 _So maybe Reiha was right. Maybe the cracks are starting to show._

"She said she wanted to speak to you, but your class schedules don't allow it." An amused grin crept onto her normally shy face. "I think she's just too embarrassed to apologize to you in person, Tsuruga-chan."

"Apologize?"

Kotone spread her arms as if it were obvious. "You know. For being so mean to you for the last two months. I'm pretty sure she's one of the ones who was posting all that awful stuff about you online. Rumor is, she had a falling out with Kujou-senpai. They're not on speaking terms any more."

"That...", she managed a breathy chuckle. "That's actually not bad. Maybe if I see her, I'll say hi."

There was of course, a part of her that wanted nothing to do with Fushima, or anyone else in the student disciplinary committee past or present. Certainly, the last two months had given her some better perspective with things far more fear-inducing than having a bunch of older, stronger students forcefully removing her student uniform in front of dozens of jeering onlookers, but it didn't diminish the outrage she'd felt at the time.

 _I remember. She was one of them too. She knew what she was doing was wrong and a serious violation of my personal privacy, and still she did it. She grabbed me. Yes, she was being ordered to do it and I know that peer pressure is a very strong thing... but she still did it. She and the others might have done something to humiliate me for the rest of my life if Pelagio hadn't swooped in. One more I owe him._

 _Fushima doesn't deserve forgiveness._

"Do you think she enjoys it?"

Coming out of left field, the question took Kotone by surprise. "Does she enjoy what?"

"What you just said." She felt her eyes narrowing into angry slits. "Posting disgusting lies about students online. Defacing their lockers when no one is looking." Knowing she wasn't exactly being clear, she shook her head. "I know that Sonoka seems to enjoy making other girls suffer humiliation. I've seen the smile on her face when she does it. And of course, it's all at Kujou's direction. Do you think she's like them?"

Kotone looked thoughtful. "No", she decided after a moment. "She looked really sad when she spoke to me. I haven't seen her smile in days. We're not always in the same classes, but still..."

"Then maybe I really will talk to her", Ai decided out loud. _Assuming that I ever get the time to do that with everything else going on right now._

Attacking the Karma club would take precedence over making up with a former SDC member. So would the fencing club, her training with captain Byzael, learning recipes under Otogi at the Starlight diner, or any of the other friends she'd accumulated over the last two months. They were all more important than this.

So was Kotone, now that she thought about it.

"How are things going with Rurichiyo-senpai?"

She wasn't surprised in the long hesitation before the answer, or the way Kotone instinctively turned away before speaking. Most of the time, Kotone managed to be even more shy than Mira, only reluctantly opening up to a few people.

"...Alright. We went to a movie at the new theater in Honmachi."

"Honmachi", she repeated, remembering the various fliers that had been posted in Tenjincho mall to alert people about whatever new film was coming out there. The south end of the city had little else of note besides a few fish stores and restaurants, suggesting that the location had been chosen for price and not accessibility. Still, it had been managing to survive for almost three years now. "I'd like to go there some time."

Kotone's thin brows rose. "Really? It wasn't that great. There was just the one room, and it was only half full at best."

Aiko smiled eagerly. "Even better. Tokyo has dozens of huge movie theaters, but they're all so crowded that it's a pain to even move sometimes. I prefer being able to hear myself think. Maybe I'll go with-"

Just as politely amused by her own hesitation, Kotone watched her expectantly. "With Rosea-kun, right? That's who you were going to say, right?"

"...No." The denial sounded far too final to her ears, and she didn't even need to check to know there was color flushing into her cheeks. "Rosea-kun and I... we're still friends, but we both agreed to back off for a while. I was thinking... Vitienne-senpai."

"Vitienne-kun? Why?"

 _Because I want to talk for a while with someone who won't bring up what we're going to do about the Masked Circle or any part of my 'other' life. Just for a little while._

Of course, she couldn't say that. "Because I like him. I think he deserves someone who cares about him after what happened to Furusato-san."

"You don't think it's too soon?"

She made a brief show of considering that the way she had several weeks ago, relieved that she could at least count on Kotone not to accuse her of only liking foreign boys, or being too eager to 'change partners'.

"No. He's definitely doing better than he was a month ago. I think he's healed now. Or at least, enough that he won't mind someone being there with him." Pausing, she turned back to her friend. "Hey, when did this get to be about me anyway? I was asking about you."

As ever, the ponytailed girl remained the most open and honest student she knew, never reluctant to express her own opinions. "Because... for me, you're more interesting, Tsuruga-chan. You're so unlike anyone else I've met." She gestured around at the mat-covered room. "I mean, you're the reason the fencing club even exists."

"I got it started", she corrected urgently. "If anyone joined this club just so they can see me, I wish they wouldn't."

Kotone shifted uneasily. "Well, I joined because Rurichiyo-kun was interested. I'm not very good. Actually... I'm thinking of quitting."

"Quitting?" Her face fell. "Come on. You just need to practice more and you'll get the hang of it. We can have a session right-"

"No, that's fine", Kotone waved her down frantically. "It's just not something I'm interested in. Rurichiyo-kun likes it. I'm just... not strong enough."

Inevitably reminded of how Mirambela had been for their first few weeks together, Aiko sighed. Trying to push Kotone into something she didn't want to do was the last thing she wanted, but having her around had been enjoyable.

"What will you do then?"

She looked thoughtful. "I was thinking of trying the literature club instead."

Aiko frowned. "Really? I heard that one is pretty crazy. I'd offer to join with you so you'll have a friend, but I'm kind of busy. Besides... it's not really my thing."

"I know." Kotone smiled gratefully. "I wouldn't ask you to do something you would be bored by. And as I said, like it or not, you're the face of this fencing club. I think you should be happy that people are joining it because they're interested in you."

Tapping her mesh mask at the mention of 'face', she sighed. "Bleh. Maybe. I just didn't think I was that interesting."

"You are", Kotone practically beamed at her. "You really are, Tsuruga-chan. Compared to you, I'm the most boring girl in the world."

"C'mon. Don't be like that. Please." Holding her gaze no matter how it tried to slip away, she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Trust me, there's a reason 'I hope you have an interesting life' is considered a curse in some places."

"Not in this place", Kotone argued back, eyes misted, her knotted ponytail hanging down. "I wish... I wish I could be interesting like you."

 _No_ , she thought. _No, you really don't._ While it was true that Kotone Samesaji could certainly be described as bland or generic sometimes, as well as being the shyest student Aiko had met at Koashimizu, she never had to fight a vicious monster made of flame that burned her to the touch. Never had to wake up to the accusing specter of Makoto Nijima. Never had to bear the weight of a team's well-being.

In this moment, the sense of envy felt quite mutual.

"We...", she muttered finally. "We all have our own different lives, and we choose what do with them. I think that might be partly why people sign up for clubs like this one. So they can stand out a little more from the crowd."

"And why we want to be friends with someone", Kotone said half-jestingly. "Until I was your friend, no one even looked at me. It was like I was invisible. Just wallpaper."

Aiko stared back, instantly concerned. Kotone's usual demeanor didn't exactly imply a physical or mental toughness. "And what about now? If Kujou's been doing anything mean to you, tell me and I'll straighten-"

"No, no", Kotone waved her down again. "No one's been doing anything bad to me. Promise."

 _Except for your brother_ , Aiko thought.

But for once, the younger of the Samesajis didn't seem quite so overcome with her misery over the acts of the elder. Instead, her round brown eyes were filled with admiration, even awe. "See? That's exactly what I mean. You're always like that with Sorano-chan too. Protective."

 _Protective, huh?_ Visions of Pelagio's early over-protectiveness were coming to mind, but Ai knew that wasn't what was intended. _Look, just accept the compliment already. Geez._

"You're like another kid I knew from middle school", Kotone continued. "A boy who got into fights with bullies whenever they started picking on someone." Unable to handle direct eye contact any more, she closely studied the floor instead.

"Th-that's all I wanted to say. R-really. Whenever you're around, Tsuruga-chan, I feel safe. Like nothing bad can happen to me. I'm sure Sorano-chan feels the same, or anyone else here who the SDC bullies. They don't dare do it while you're around. That's why I..."

The warmth she felt wasn't quite the same as the kind she'd felt around Julian or Noel or Kohru. It was not as intense. But it was there. The subdued warmth of confidence, which, if only for a moment, made everything else that had been haunting her ever since the disastrous mission to the Karma club look trivial.

 _Maybe I can stay,_ Ai noted in a rare blissful moment free of logic. _Maybe I can just quit on this whole Dream Voyager thing and just be a student. Be Aiko Tsuruga the Tokyo Bully-Hunter._

 _I like the sound of that. A lot._

A tiny, lopsided smile crept onto her face. _Heh. No. Not in this lifetime._

"Thank you very much, Samesaji-chan. You've helped me, more than you think."

 _And I promise you... I_ will _save your brother from whatever hold Lady Scorpio has on him._

* * *

The squat half-finished building which at some point had picked up the nickname of 'the shack' was cleaner inside than Aiko expected, considering its origins. It had been constructed alongside Koashimizu academy's ill-fated attempt at a pool to act as a separate storage and changing area. Though no lockers had ever been installed, the hollowed spaces where they would have gone were easily recognizable, and the shower tiling had actually been nearly completed before the project was shut down.

"What a waste", she remarked to Keta Rurichiyo as she spotted him coming around the entryway, hoping that this talk would be as productive as the one with Kotone had been.

"You're preaching to the choir, Tsuruga-chan", the tall third-year boy she'd first met in detention agreed before taking a seat on one of the completed benches. "I actually tried putting forward a motion to finish it when I was a first-year, but I never got anywhere. As if the powers that be at this school would listen to a mouthy first-year."

Taking a moment to consider how much of that comment was ironically referring to her instead of Keta's past self, she studied the square metal frames that should have contained mirrors. "I think Yumika-sensei would finish it if he could."

Sitting down at a fair distance, he nodded. "I'll give him that. He even told me why, though I didn't quite get it at the time. Funding. Always funding. That's the number one worry of a principal, these days. He told me that over the last five years, schools across Japan- across the world, mostly- have been losing funding."

The idea made as little sense to Aiko as it had the younger Keta as well. "How come?"

He shrugged helplessly. "The government decides, of course. If they need some funding for some other project, then it has to be cut somewhere else, or else they have to increase taxes, which of course everyone hates." Knocking a fist against the wooden locker frames, he emitted a sad laugh. "Unfortunately, education is one of the things they can cut back on."

"It sounds like you've been studying it", Ai observed quietly.

"My dad is a junior school teacher", he explained, sounding apologetic for his rant. "He makes sure not to watch the news any more, because damn near everything he sees on it pisses him off... and he's already got some heart trouble going on."

"I'm sorry."

He made a dismissive look and pounded one fist threateningly into his palm. "Why? You're not in the Diet. Although if you're actually prime minister Tamagami in disguise, well done there, really."

Laughing in tension-venting relief, she studied the older boy's tall body, quickly finding the bruise marks which had caught her eye when they had first met. "Sorry, no. Maybe Kujou is him in disguise?"

Chuckling back, he relaxed his arms. "Makes sense. He gets tons of support from the JCAP voting block after all. He's the one who passed that law reducing minimum wage for non-natives."

Sensing the cold ire in his voice despite the fact that Keta and his family were native Japanese, she flashed back to the handful of times she had seen Abe Tamagami on television. An older-looking man who never tried to hide it, but also possessed of a certain dignity when he spoke that few other politicians held, managing to come across as modest yet urgent.

Remembering what Akira had told her, she leaned back cautiously. "Still... he's better than Masayoshi Shido would have been."

"Yes. He's better than Shido", Keta agreed reluctantly. "It's just a shame that we have to settle for 'better than Shido'. You can still get elected and pass unfair laws, strip funding out of schools and blame other people for it, just so long as you're better than a fucking criminal mastermind who molests women in his spare time." Throwing his hands up, his smile took on a morose angle. "What a world, eh?"

"Yeah", she second noncommittally. _If you only knew... or, maybe you already do?_ "Some world."

Standing up off the bench and stretching as seemed to be his habit, he smiled as he felt tension release. "Look at us though. Sitting here in the shack and condemning the government like a couple of sour old adults who only know how to complain. Geez. Maybe I've been hanging around my father too long."

"Senpai", she started suddenly, knowing that delays only increased the likelihood that she would never ask at all. "Sorry if I seem forward, but..."

"Go ahead", he encouraged. "I _like_ forward."

Wishing his words made her throat less tight, she went for it. "I know this sounds crazy, but I have to ask... Are you Hex?"

Unsurprisingly, he looked stunned by the idea, then immersed in a slowly-building blast of laughter. "Really? Seriously, Tsuruga? You're asking that? This isn't some kind of prank or something. You actually think that I'm a masked vigilante."

She took too long to think of her reply, and Keta laughed again. "Yeah, okay, you win. I'm totally Hex. I'm gonna go out tonight and beat up more criminals, or just people who are out past midnight."

She stared. "Really?"

"No, you idiot. I was joking."

Remaining perfectly calm, she gazed back at his grin. "Seriously. I know. The thing is, you're always covered in those bruises. Which you have always refused to tell me or anyone else the reason for. _And_ you're always getting detention for oversleeping and being late to class. And you've got enough muscle on you-"

Raising a hand to cut her off, Keta shook his head. "Okay, stop. Huh. I guess when you put it that way, it does kind of sound suspicious. That is, _if_ you assumed that Tosashimizu was nothing except this school campus."

Lacking a window to demonstrate his point, he brought his phone out instead, quickly bringing up a map of the Kochi prefecture. "I can't see my house from here", he joked. "But I think you can see just how many other people there are in Tosashimizu. How many full-grown adult males, who are much more likely candidates to be Hex than me."

"You're right", Aiko retreated, knowing that even if she didn't believe him, there wasn't any way to push it farther. "It's silly. I just thought..."

"No worries", he said, looking a bit prideful at the notion now. "Hex is probably just some guy inspired by the Phantom Thieves. Which I can respect. I just have to wonder sometimes about what they're hoping to achieve, besides putting a lot of young guys in the hospital."

 _The hospital_ , she realized with a shock. She'd seen a few other patients when visiting Makoto, but never put two and two together and realized that some of them might be victims of Hex.

"Answer this then", she said patiently, pulling out a scrap of paper which felt like carrying around a loaded gun now. "When I asked you before about this number, you said you didn't know anything. Is that still true?"

Studying the number on the paper, his eyes grew cold, betraying any lie he might attempt. "...Yeah. I know it now. That rumor's been going around campus lately. Call the Karma phone number, and they'll solve your problems for you. I guess you were one of their first picks."

"Or someone's first pick", she maintained. "Someone with connections to them, who thought I might want their help."

Angrily, he crumpled the paper. "Were they right?"

Happy to see that anger, she shook her head. "No. I don't need their help to deal with Kujou. Besides, it kinda sounds like a scam."

"Yeah, it does", he agreed disgustedly. "Next thing you know, they'll ask anyone who picks up to help them move money out of a Nigerian credit account or something." Looking for a moment like he was about to leave, he instead brought his hand down on some sort of beetle that had been crawling out of the locker hollows towards her, crushing it and earning a shudder in return.

"Thanks."

"No big", he said, instinctively turning towards the washroom area before remembering that the shack had no water running to it. "More importantly, why ask me? I hope you're not trying to reach out to Hex for help."

Momentarily freezing up as she decided how much could be shared with Keta, she waved her hand dismissively. "Not for Kujou. As I said, I chose to handle that myself."

"Good", he remarked, placated. "Hex might be inspired by the Phantom Thieves, but he hasn't proven his allegiance the way they have. For all we know, he could be a violent crook who just so happens to beat up other violent crooks for fun."

That comparison got Aiko thinking harder, but not about suspicions of Hex. For five seconds she waited. All the factors aligned, and she decided.

"Full confession? I was trying to let Hex know about the other problem we just talked about."

"About Minister Tamagami? I mean, I don't like him but I don't think he's a-"

"No. About the Karma phone number." It wasn't difficult to let her face slide into an expression of genuine, dire worry about that subject. "You're absolutely right. It _is_ a scam. I know it's a scam because... because Rosea-kun fell for it."

Incredibly, he looked even more shocked than he had on her first question. "Holy _shit_. Seriously? That's why he disappeared for all that time?"

"He lost a lot of his parent's money to them", she explained, rapidly thinking ahead to anticipate any other gaps in the lie. "He was so ashamed that he'd been taken in by it, that he'd gotten scammed so badly, that he ran away from home. Even now, he was only willing to tell me the real reason."

Keta hit a bench even harder than he had the bug. "Wow. Sorry, I never knew. I always thought Rosea was just another athletic guy with his head buried in his own ass. I guess going through that explains why he's been different ever since he got back."

"Uh-huh", she nodded, focusing on the unfinished brick walls. "He told his parents, and they want to keep it a secret too. They- His father's too proud to let anyone else know how much money they lost."

"I guess he's the tree to Rosea's apple then", Keta remarked irritably. "They should go to the police about that, and get that phone line shut down before anyone else gets scammed."

Finally, something she hadn't anticipated. Fortunately, it was easy enough to adapt to. Keta's energy was all directed into rage towards the Karma club, not into picking apart her story. "Rosea-kun said he did that. The police said they would look into it."

" _Great_ ", Keta snarled. "Well if they can't shut that line down, I can at least spread the word and make sure nobody else makes Rosea's mistake. Yeesh. Poor guy. I'll make sure not to mention his name; he deserves that much at least."

"Thank you", she replied in relief that was, once more, not faked. "We'd appreciate that. Rosea-kun only told me that because I promised not to tell anyone else. If he found out..."

Nodded, Keta made a lip zipping motion. "Now I see why you wanted to talk to Hex. Between that phone line and all the other rumors, that club's into some shady stuff, for sure."

"Definitely", she agreed. "Unfortunately, I heard that the police already investigated them several times and found nothing wrong. Just some leftover equipment from the building's previous owner. So I thought-"

"You thought you would try to reach out to Hex for help", Keta finished, giving her an admiring look. "You really are a good friend, Tsuruga-chan. And I'm sorry that I'm not who you thought I was. I almost wish I was Hex now, so I could head on over at night and beat those bastards up."

"It's okay", she assured him, grateful to be done with the lie. _For now anyway._ "It's not your fault. I was just worried that someone else might..."

"Rosea isn't doing people any favors by staying quiet about it", Keta mused. "But I at least get why. Don't worry, I'll be careful. Maybe ask the student council if I can put up some notices in the hall about it. Although, that might backfire and make some students try it out just because we told them not to... hm..."

She let him continue mulling it over, trying to figure out a way to guarantee no one else would ever call Karma to solve their problems, or any other reason ever again.

* * *

 _AT: tried asking Rurichiyo about Hex. no luck_

 _JR: ^^o_

 _MS: i didn't think he would be_

 _AT: i was hoping_

 _JR: good try tho_

 _JR: i'm kinda glad its not him_

 _AT: but that means he might be a problem for us_

 _MS: how come?_

 _AT: i told you already that i was given the paper with the karma phone line on it back_ _when i was in detention_

 _JR: yeah lol_

 _MS: it's not funny_

 _MS: the school keeps records of that stuff_

 _MS: i've managed to avoid ever being in detention_

 _JR: :p_

 _AT: ok, but listen_

 _AT: that paper was slipped to me by someone who was in that class_

 _AT: so that someone in that classroom wanted me to call the Karma line so that they could awaken my Persona_

 _AT: someone who is working for the Masked Circle!_

 _MS: ...oh_

 _JR: shit_

 _JR: ok_

 _JR: you're right_

 _JR: that's not funny_

 _JR: shit_

* * *

6/10 Monday

Evening

Staring down into his freshly empty glass, Akira adjusted his glasses and actively tried not to enjoy himself.

It felt like a betrayal to do that. Even if the Karma club was far beyond the dismal, run-down karaoke joints he knew from Yongen-Jaya. Instead, it called to mind a more sobered version of a certain Palace that had been on his mind lately. Jeweled chandeliers reflected rainbows of light around them and down among the crowds. Round tables cowled in velvet red provided for dozens of people, most of them adults in business garb, some of them wearing stylized black eye masks out of a desire to avoid being identified.

The people serving them had the same idea. They wore more substantial protection over their faces as they went around in fancy wait staff uniforms complete with fancy black bowties, but the real attraction lay on the stage at the center of the main hall, and it was there that a beautiful singer with high cheekbones and long wavy chestnut hair was holding people rapt. Not only with her voice, but movements as well, the way the club's multicolored lights played off the rapidly glittering body stocking she wore with each stretch.

Which in Akira's humble estimation, still wasn't as good as the punk-styled jazz band from last night, a true rarity in Tosashimizu or Japan in general. Whatever this place had going on behind the scenes, their chief manager had an eye for good entertainment. He'd thought that even before spotting the vents at the corners of the hall, exactly the way Aiko had described them.

Beyond the classy atmosphere that they tried to create, he wouldn't be at all surprised if a small, imperceptible dose of the club's 'special ingredient' from those vents could bring all sorts of buried emotions running to the surface of the average patron. A sudden bout of euphoria or a long lost memory, and their confusion would give way to attachment to the place which had caused those feelings, even if they had no idea how it had been done.

In fact, with a trained nose he'd experienced the former more than once since he'd chosen the far left corner table for his 'stakeout'. Sometimes he would be joined by others, but today he was alone.

And easily spotted.

He caught sight of Ryuken Samesaji long before he got to the table, of course. Identifying the features and strange horned mask of the chief manager had been one of Morgana's very first recon tasks. As before, the braided tails of his hair running down the collar of his dark green suit bore colors just as varied at the kaleidoscopic lights of his club, with the rest of it a clean midnight black. A tiny metal spiral hung down from his left ear, jingling as he walked.

More alarmingly, he had enough muscle visible beneath that fancy dinner attire to count as a bouncer if need be. Lifting his horned bull mask free revealed an extremely handsome face that didn't look that far away from being a dead ringer for his old friend Yusuke Kitagawa.

Of course, Yusuke rarely ever expressed animated confidence through his face so openly either. Neither did he ever wear this sort of classy business attire, or a single earring.

There was no chance to escape, Akira realized in steadily-mounting fear. The path going back to the main entrance went right through Samesaji's route of approach, and it was far too late to hide out in the men's room. He had hoped the least-used corner table in the hall would hide him, but now the young man was taking the seat beside Akira as casually as if he'd just stepped out for a break.

"Hey there. You look lonely. Figure you could use some company."

"I-I'm fine", he stammered, still trying to calculate exactly how much 'Prince Taurus' knew about him already. "And sorry to disappoint you, but I don't swing that way.

 _Especially not with a man who might be an insane criminal. **Who might have been the one who hurt Nijima-san.**_

Samesaji doubled over in wholesome-seeming laughter nearly enough to override the energetic singer onstage for a moment. "Ha. Fair enough. I see all sorts of people come to visit us for our shows, but rarely do I see someone come here alone. Especially two nights in a row."

 _Damn. So he did spot me right from the start. Just have to hope they haven't seen Morgana too._

He shrugged innocently. "Your band impressed me. What're they called again? Mahayogi?"

"Mu-Jogi", Samesaji said, expression just as carefully neutral. "They play here again on Friday nights too, if you're interested. Good way to close out the week."

"I'll keep that in mind. Gotta say though, your singers aren't nearly as good. I think I'll be going now."

Then he felt the iron claw gripping his shoulder as he tried to stand up, and knew he was in trouble.

Samesaji's expression was, if anything, more friendly than before. "Heeey, slow down there, buddy. If you say to my face that Ayasha-san isn't that good, then maybe you can do better? After all, as swanky as we try to pretend to be here, it's not too often that we have a real celebrity among us... _Akira Kurusu._ "

 _Yep. Definitely up to my neck in it again._

 _Problem is, back then I could call for someone to bail me out. But Morgana's busy._

 _Improvise._

"I'm... not really sure what you mean by celebrity", he tried, moving his glasses to block his eyes with the light. "I'm just a teacher. Not even that; I'm not done my college courses yet."

The young man's grin widened into something more at home on a predatory beast. "Oh, but you're so much more than that, aren't you? I know major talent when I see it. Those singers you insulted? I picked 'em. Taught 'em the business and how to work the crowd. You, though... You've got some hidden talents of your own, right? Why else would a college student skip school to come all the way down here from the big city of Tokyo?"

"...I'm visiting a friend. A friend who was recently injured."

"I see", Samesaji acknowledged the excuse, sounding genuinely sympathetic before immediately returning focus to his 'prey'. "So. What's your name?"

"Akira."

The manager rolled his eyes. To anyone who glanced at their booth, it would look like they were just two old friends catching up, and nearly the same age to boot. "No, no, no. What's your _name_ , Akira?"

 _Damn it. No way out. No point in hiding it any more if they already know._

Akira sighed heavily, tenderly forcing down the last dregs of his drink to buy more time. If it were poisoned, he would have already felt the effects by now. "...Joker."

Instantly, Samesaji looked happier, actually offering him a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Joker. I'm Prince Taurus."

Moving his other arm out in a gesture towards the stage, he nodded expectantly. "And if you think Ayasha-san's not reaching the people's hearts tonight, then why don't we turn up the juice and show 'em what we can do instead when she's done her number?"

Leaning back into the seat cushion, Akira blinked. Blinked again, hoping that doing so would let him comprehend if the other young man's offer was serious or not.

"Unbelievable. You actually mean that, don't you? You actually want the two of us to go up onstage right now and summon our Personas in front of everyone."

"And fight", Samesaji corrected him happily. "Can't forget my favorite part. Or if you're too chicken to fight me, we could release some some Shadow trash onto the stage and destroy them together. We could give these people a show that they'd never forget the rest of their lives. What do you think?"

"I think it's a miracle you haven't been discovered yet if that's your attitude", Akira scowled.

"No need to worry", Samesaji assured him cheerfully. "Thanks to the Veil, these idiots can't even comprehend it. All they would see is special effects around the two of us. And we're only venting in a tiny portion of our psych-juice right now. Our powers would be reduced to a fraction of their true potential in this room."

Looking back into that terribly eager grin, Akira forced his own smile on to hide the revulsion he felt welling up inside. "I suppose if they get hurt, they'll chalk that up to special effects too then?"

"Nah. More like illnesses. Heart attacks and stuff like that. So... how about it, Joker?"

It was, in many ways, a new kind of experience for him. All of the Palace rulers which Akira Kurusu faced long ago had been Shadows. Their madness, that insatiable hunger was easy to see in their faces the moment he looked at them, into the burning yellow coals that served them for eyes, the unhinged slasher smiles that showed nothing but teeth. Moreover, they had all been older than him.

But this one was only two years older than he was. Not a Shadow either, but a human. And even now, he felt like the adult laying down the law on him as he spoke.

"Enough playing around. My name _isn't_ Joker", Akira stared into him coldly. "And your name isn't Prince Taurus. Your name is Ryuken Samesaji. You have a younger sister, Kotone Samesaji, who worries about you. Constantly."

Ryuken's unnerving grin faded just a bit, and he nodded, reaching up to touch his earring. Akira found it a relief, really, to see the man behave more like a human. "I know that. But... Ryuken Samesaji can't give her the life she deserves. He's weak. He can't be her hero. But Prince Taurus can."

Akira frowned, understanding despite himself. He hadn't lied to Mirambela. Certainly, there had been many times that hectic year when he had enjoyed being Joker more, times when he'd preferred the giddy thrill of heists in the Metaverse to his life in a frustrating, often oppressive-seeming real world. Everything associated with the code name, with the Phantom Thieves, could often cheer him up.

But there had never once been a time when he'd woken up in Sojiro's dusty attic in Yongen-jaya's early morning and not known who he was.

He _knew_ who he was. Now, more than ever. He was Akira Kurusu, college student. Being Joker was just a temporary escape, and a tool to bring justice to criminals.

"Prince Taurus is a name that you made up to sound cool", he said firmly. "A second identity. But it's still _you._ Just a more aggressive you."

Eyes narrow, Samesaji drew back. "A stronger me. A me who doesn't let this cruel life push him around. You should talk to Lady Scorpio. I'm not completely sure, but, uh... I think that she actually managed to get rid of her weak self."

Akira grimaced. After weeks of digging, Futaba had been able to find some actual solid information on the club's supposed hostess, but not as much as he would have wanted.

What she had found was more than enough.

"Oh yes", he drawled. "I can totally see how great it is to always hide your face behind a mirrored geisha mask and kimono, and becoming a _Hikikomori_." For Futaba, this point had hit particularly close to home.

"And look at you, leaving out all the upsides", Samesaji pointed out. "Come with me and see her. I think you'll be impressed, Joker."

 _Obvious trap is obvious._ Of course he wanted Akira to go visit Lady Scorpio in private, and expose himself to the mind-warping powers of her Persona.

Perhaps Samesaji had assumed he'd be so eager to confront the person responsible for what had happened to Makoto that he would ignore that risk and assume he could take down anyone who got in his way.

Sensing an opening now that Samesaji had relaxed around him, he rose up out of the chair. "Sorry. Not interested. In her, or in anything else you have to offer. My dad warned me about going among mad people."

The other man's winsome features slid into disappointment tinged with anger. "Well. That's really too bad, Joker. I would've really liked having you working with us. But if you really want to stay as your weaker self, then I can't help you."

Staring down into his own now empty drink, he raised his hand to snap his fingers in a way that sounded strangely loud, even if Ayasha was now done her singing. In the time it took for Akira to analyze that, he sensed the warmth of others dangerously near to him, turning to see a pair of female wait staff. Their masks blotted out their eyes, making them look nearly identical.

"Please show Mr. Kurusu the way out", Samesaji commanded. "He's not to be allowed back in."

"Yes, Prince Taurus", one of them said, not exactly threatening but firm.

"Please come with us, Mr. Kurusu", the other commanded.

Another memory from the old days called back to very real life, and one that didn't need any of the Masked Circle's psycho-juice either. These two girls were much older and taller than Caroline and Justine, but the underlying suspicion that their 'inmate' might cause trouble, the ironclad commitment to having their commands obeyed, was exactly the same.

He could take them. At least, he thought so. They were younger than him and looked better trained as waitresses than enforcers. They also weren't insane like their boss was... at least not yet.

But what then? He would only manage to attract the attention of the crowd and the other staff, who would be all too happy to throw him out on the street... and likely not before posting the story to the media.

He could already see the headline: _Drunken college student tossed out of nightclub for threatening owner, Expelled._

So for now, he had to go along with it, letting the two grab his arms as a show of dominance before politely leading him out of the hall, back into the foyer to pick up his coat, and then out the doors.

"Akira Kurusu is no longer welcome in here", Samesaji called to him, waving before passing out of sight, casually popping his horn mask back on. "But _Joker_ is always welcome."

Then he was outside, free from all that light and noise, out in the darkness.

On cue, it began to rain.

* * *

Enemy Profile #10: _Strigoii_

Arcana: Emperor

Strength: Curse, Water

Weakness: Fire

Abilities: Eiha, Poison Breath, Dormina, Life Drain

Background: Troubled souls of the dead who rose from the grave and immortal vampires in Romanian lore. Certain Strigoii can actually be living humans who gained magical powers. The Strigoii have the ability to transform into an animal, invisibility, and the propensity to drain the vitality of their victims via blood loss. They are believed to have originated from ancient Dacian mythology, which casts the Strigoii as the evil and unworthy spirits of the dead that are not allowed into the Kingdom of Zalmoxis.

* * *

Persona Profile #6: _Wild Bill_

 _'At last, after thinking a heap about it, I came to the conclusion that I always did: that the boldest plan is the best, and safest.'_

Arcana: Hanged Man

Strength: Fire

Weakness: Water, Ice

Abilities (So Far): Agi, Maragi, Agilao, Triple Down, Taruakaja, Gun Pleroma, Taunt

Background: A folk hero of the American old west known for his adventures across the frontier as both a lawman and an outlaw. Born in Illinois in 1837. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation, along with his own stories. One aspect of his legend which has remained resolutely nonfictional is his skill as a professional gambler. The hand of cards which he supposedly held at the time of his death when he was shot in the back has become known as the 'dead man's hand'- two pairs of aces and eights.

* * *

A/N: Lots of references and a long-ish chapter. Next one will be shorter but I hope to have it done much faster. At least I finally got Julian/Jiachi some action and his code name. R&R please.


	34. Have A Short Rest

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Sometimes You Tell The Day  
By The Bottle That You Drink  
And Times When You're All Alone All You Do Is Think _

* * *

_AK: hey there everyone_

 _AT: welcome Kurusu_

 _AK: yeah this takes me back_

 _AK: used to do this all the time with the PT_

 _AK: probably not such a great idea now that i think back on it_

 _AK: Futaba showed me that no chat log is safe from a good hacker_

 _MS: Nijima said that too_

 _MS: about having memories of chatting, not about Futaba_

 _AK: uh huh_

 _AK: and here i am texting a bunch of teens like im back in shujin_

 _AK: feels weird_

 _JR: well i c you already got the most important part down_

 _JR: don't ever use caps lol_

 _AT: kurusu, this is julian rosea_

 _JR: hey there dude, sorry i couldn't meet you in person last time_

 _JR: had stuff to do_

 _AK: It's fine. Nice to see you're okay, Rosea_

 _JR: aw man_

 _JR: now he's using caps, knew he couldn't resist the power of the adult side forever X(_

 _AT: k if Rosea is done being a goofball i wanted to talk with Kurusu about some things before we go to the soccer game today_

 _AT: first, hows things on your end_

 _AK: not so well_

 _AK: i got made, they knew who i was as soon as i tried_

 _JR: hax_

 _AK: actually i don't think so. Futaba checked._

 _JR: was joking dude_

 _AK: so was I_

 _JR: x_x_

 _AK: Anyway, can't get back in the club now._

 _AK: good news is they still haven't spotted Morgana_

 _MS: thats good_

 _AT: did he find anything?_

 _AK: nothing major yet, just some old equipment and dressing rooms_

 _MS: make sure he is careful please, don't want him to get caught_

 _JR: Morgana is a cat right, the talking cat?_

 _AT: yep_

 _AT: he's cuuute ^^_

 _AT: Pelagio doesn't like him tho_

 _JR: sounds like my kind of cat_

 _AT: thank you for not saying what i thought you were going to say_

 _AT: let's try to keep this at least somewhat professional_

 _JR: hey you said it, not me_

 _AK: like i said, takes me back_

 _AT: if you need our assistance with something or just to provide a distraction, let us know_

 _AT: we've been destroying their Shadows, the black boxes_

 _MS: only one so far_

 _AT: yes well if we didn't have to also go to school and do homework we could do it faster_

 _AK: It's fine, really._

 _AK: Morgana would like me to pass on his thanks as well._

 _AK: and some kind of insult at the intelligence of Rosea that i won't bother with_

 _JR: hey!_

 _JR: oh well, yay imagination_

 _AT: back on track, couldn't find any trace of Hex yet_

 _AT: will keep looking_

 _AK: Careful, he could be dangerous_

 _AT: i know_

 _AT: also wanted to ask you for ideas on how to find Karma's agent_

 _AK: agent?_

 _AT: someone in the detention class passed me a piece of paper with the Karma phone line on it._

 _AK: you were in detention?_

 _MS: wasn't her fault, Kujou pretended Tsuruga attacked her when it was Pelagio_

 _JR: wait, seriously? you were in detention?_

 _AT: can we please focus here!_

 _AT: need to learn who it was. Preferably without letting them know we're onto them._

 _AK: do you know anyone in the detention class besides Rurichiyo_

 _AT: no, sorry. Just Mr. Umaeda, the rest were all older boys._

 _AT: can't remember their faces or names_

 _AK: ask Mr. Umaeda_

 _AT: okay, what do i say?_

 _AK: tell him you want to try to help them so they don't get detention again_

 _AT: Umaeda might not remember either, it was almost 2 months ago._

 _AK: one sec_

 _JR: dude that's way more than one sec_

 _AK: sorry had to check with Futaba. Yes, we can access Koashimizu academy's database and they do have records on which students were placed in detention and when._

 _MS: told you_

 _AK: Keta Rurichiyo, Shinji Utakata, Torade Yoshida, Satoshi Oori._

 _AT: thank you very much Kurusu_

 _AT: 3 students we don't know, I say after the game today we each take one._

 _MS: Tsuruga. school. we won't have time. don't even know what to look for._

 _AT: fine, we'll ask around about them_

 _AT: see if any of them were ever having trouble at school_

 _JR: besides being in detention you mean_

 _AT: yes, besides that_

 _AT: Utakata._

 _MS: I'll go with Yoshida_

 _JR: guess that means i'm with Oori_

 _AK: see? You can get them to focus on the mission if you try._

 _AK: it's just really difficult._

 _AK: so glad that i had Nijima around to help me with that_

 _AT: is she ok?_

 _AK: yes, last i checked_

 _AT: if she wakes up please let us know_

 _AK: got it_

 _(Akira Kurusu has left the chat)_

* * *

6/11 Tuesday

After School

The crowd gathered for today's perpetually-rain-delayed soccer game was much larger than usual. The volume of their shouts and cheers reflected that, and Aiko Tsuruga was grateful for both of these factors. It meant less attention was likely to fall on the three of them.

"If nothing else", Jiachi noted cheekily, "this is really giving us a lot of practice on how to talk quietly in a crowd." He'd been focused on the game more than Aiko or Mira, watching and occasionally cheering for the home team, which in itself wouldn't have been odd except for the fact that less than a month ago, he'd been consumed with bitter anger about being left off that same team. Enough to lie about it to any who asked.

But life went on, Aiko knew. With everything else happening recently, it was easy to lose track of the fact that an entire school year was going on in the background. They still had to wake up, go to classes and submit their assignments each Saturday, and the extracurricular clubs didn't stop just because officer Makoto Nijima had been hurt and put in the hospital.

Idly, she wondered how many students here would drop what they were doing if they knew that the leader of the legendary Phantom Thieves was visiting their distant coastal town.

Regardless, it remained a welcome distraction for when the weight of leadership felt too heavy. The things that made other students stress out, she was happy to lose herself in for a while and just be a normal student. A normal first-year student who was the head of the school fencing club, often a target of bullying and foul rumors, but still relatively normal.

Mira was right about that at least. Sometimes, when she was tired and scared, it was tempting to stay lost.

 _Not now,_ she reminded herself, bringing up her phone to privately check Akira's message. _This is the time when we need to be active. As active as possible. Anything we do distracts Karma from Akira's moves. Got to find out who was Karma's agent at school, learn if Utakata is the one who's been passing out those papers._

"Pelagio found us a spot on the shore", she started once they were sure no one else was listening. "Another cave, further up the beach from Yume Bay. We should be able to use that to dispose of the black boxes without any chance of being seen."

"Transporting them there could be a bi- a problem, though", Julian said. "They really stand out."

Flinching at a near miss on goal, Mira turned to them. "I've got that covered, actually. You remember that big crate you saw in our dorm? I asked Ekuya-san if I could borrow it, and she said yes. Shocking, I know. She said it's used to move soap dispensers and appliances to the dorms, and they only use it at the start and the end of the term. We should be fine. It's definitely big enough."

Aiko smiled. That was one less problem taken off an enormous pile of them. "Thank you, Mira-chan. If you're up to it, we could go out later today-"

"Not today", Jiachi cut in apologetically. "Sorry, can't."

"Why not?"

Scratching his short-spiked hair in his usual attempt to hide embarrassment, he shrugged. "Uh... Y'know. It's kinda, um... my... heh... my birthday. So my folks want to drive me back home after the game today. So we can celebrate."

Mira chuckled just a little bit too highly to feel completely at ease. "Well, _happy birthday_ , Rosea-kun!"

"Yes", Ai echoed more genuinely, giving him a brief, hesitant embrace over his shoulders, for once able to forget about their problems and celebrate life. "Happy birthday to you, Rosea-kun. If I'd known, I'd have gotten you a present. Sorry."

"Please don't", he asked, looking around nervously to make sure no one else heard them. "I just... It's not really such a big deal, y'know? Maybe if we were in America it would be, but not here. We've got way more important stuff to deal with right now anyway."

"I suppose", she admitted. "But still I wish I'd known. What about you?"

Mira shrugged. "August 23rd. I'll be going back home to visit with my family then. You?"

Ai gave an expression of mock victory. "January 5th. No real plans. I only found out when I checked my birth certificate info."

"Then we can make plans", Julian offered brightly. "Plenty of time!"

"Assuming we're still alive by then", Mira pointed out before reconsidering her words. "Um, sorry. Didn't mean to bring the mood down. Actually-"

"Tsuruga-san?"

The three followed the source through a miasma of noise back to the short boy standing near the foot of the bleachers. Shukiji Niyoga waved to them, prompting expressions of annoyance from several but also recognition that they couldn't simply ignore him.

"Stay here", Aiko advised them, releasing Jiachi and stepping down from her seat above him. "I'll be right back."

Once it was clear they would be gone longer than a minute, Mira slid down into her spot and Julian leaned back. "'Actually' what?"

Mira gave a happy sigh, a sense of marshaling the courage to act. "Actually, I think I do have a present for you."

"Even though you didn't know about it until now?"

"Yes."

"I really need to let the feather bag know that you're not the load he thinks you are."

Mira frowned awkwardly. "Erm... yes." It wasn't exactly a secret that Pelagio hadn't always thought highly of her role in the group, considering her soft-hearted, but rarely had it been expressed so brashly before.

Fortunately, Julian wasn't so judgmental. Stopping to join in the fanfare of a well-earned Koashimizu team goal, she sat back down on the bleacher and turned to him. "I wanted to apologize to you for before."

"Hm? 'Bout what?"

Shaking her head as if in disbelief, she stared into his eyes. "You know what. When I saw what happened to Ai-chan."

"Oh. Oh yeah. The yelling. Right."

"Yes", she gasped as if in sharp relief. "The yelling. You know me, Rosea-kun. You know that I'm not a violent or angry person normally. I just..."

Jiachi raised a hand to cut her off. "Let me guess. You just thought that I'd pushed Tsuruga-chan into doing something that got her seriously hurt. Right?"

"Right. And since then, I've started to realize... That wasn't you. It wasn't Pelagio either."

Watching the other team from Koichi Pref school start bringing the ball back their way, she briefly wondered if working some kind of sports metaphor into her words might make it easier, but thought better of it. "It was her. She wanted it. The rush. The adventure. Even if you'd said no like I did, I think she might still have done it without us."

Processing her words, her hypothesis, he glanced back at the field before continuing. "Well... I think you're right. I can see where she's coming from."

Her jaw dropped. "Still? After everything that's happened?"

His arms spread, encompassing the soccer field, then the dorms. "School? Soccer? It's nice. It passes the time. But this Persona stuff? This is the chance to make our _mark_ , Sorano-san. Our chance to do some real, lasting good in this messed-up world, which is honestly a lot more than a lot of people our age get. In this case, we're taking down evil masked monsters that prey on people's negative feelings. Oh, and Shadows."

She couldn't help but giggle a bit at the joke before getting back on track, the afternoon sun's glare playing out over her dark skin. "And you're still not mad at her or anything? For making us the targets of these Karma people?"

"Hey", he protested. "They haven't tried anything yet, have they? Aside from Nijima-san. Who, as you said, was only targeted 'cause she was investigating them long before we got involved."

"True", she conceded. "But the more we mess with them, the more likely they are to take action against us. We've seen their power. They're not afraid to hurt people."

"'Cause they're d-bags", Julian pointed out calmly, eyes focused on the horizon now. "Hell, if Tsuruga-chan is right, they might be messing with students at our school too, trying to get 'em to awaken Personas. We do nothing about it? That's us saying _it's okay for 'em to do that_. Haven't you ever seen Spider-Man?"

Mira folded her arms, trying to let that straightforward logic allay her fears but not quite succeeding. Fear, she had begun to realize, dominated her decision making far more than it did Aiko or Jiachi's. Fear of Kujou. Fear of her father's disapproval. Fear of the Shadows. Fear of Faraway Lands. Of the unknown.

Fear of Karma.

But in Julian's earnest eyes, those fears were either non-existent- a possibility she considered unlikely- or well concealed.

"You supported Ai-chan in her decision", Mira said softly. "You and Pelagio stood by her, and if you hadn't, then she might be dead right now. Or worse, turned to their side. You saved her from the Masked Circle. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. Any time."

Shaking her head at how casually he was brushing this confession off, she sniffed. "You're a much better friend than I ever gave you credit for, Rosea-kun. All this time, I still thought that you were just trying to... you know."

He _did_ know. The evidence was plastered all over his face, which for once looked remorseful instead of cocky. His words were equally sedate and measured.

"I'm an asshole, Sorano-chan. You were right there in my Land. You saw for yourself just how much of an asshole I really am."

"But you figured that out", she reminded him gently. "That's the hardest step to take. And I'd say you've been getting better already."

"Maybe", he allowed. The game was wrapping up now, the Koashimizu team gathering around portly coach Kurikado to receive his hearty congratulations on a game well played, final score 3 to 1. "Not like I haven't got other worries either."

"Other worries?"

He gave a quiet snicker, trying to make it clear to her that he knew exactly how trivial his personal problems sounded when they could die tomorrow. "I'm turning 17 today. And the only friends I have in my life are two girls. Neither of which is my girlfriend. Isn't that weird?"

"Sure", she gave him a teasing smile. "Like you and Ai-chan aren't close. Clearly no connection there at all."

The sudden surge of body heat reminded him of that time at the shrine, as well as what they had said to each other. "We agreed that we'd gotten together for selfish reasons. Just 'cause it was considered the 'cool' thing to do, so we- so I- could show off to people. And I swore that I would try and become someone she might want to be together with again one day."

"I know. She told me the whole story."

"Good." Watching the crowds disperse, he was free to lean back onto the seat behind him. "Whatevs. Maybe I'm just feeling like this 'cause I'm the only guy on this team."

"Pelagio's male."

He snorted. "Yeah, but he's not even human. Doesn't count."

She paused for a moment, expecting a prideful retort from the world's only talking saker falcon, but nothing came. "I guess he's out patrolling. Or watching over Ai-chan."

"He's good at that", Julian admitted, able to lean back now that the others had cleared out. "I'm surprised he doesn't turn into a butler in the other world. He gives me that kind of vibe."

"Maybe he was once", Mira supposed. "You never met Mona-chan, but he's practically a human in a cat's body."

"Not too late", he reminded her. "He and Kurusu are gonna be here for the rest of the week. I'd like to talk with both of them in person at least once, instead of just text messaging... but not today."

"Not today", she agreed. "You still need to get your present."

She reached for her phone.

* * *

Shukiji had chosen to drag Aiko all the way to a quiet table in the far corner of the school's auburn-colored 2nd floor library for their talk this time, which gave her plenty of time to consider what to say. More importantly, exactly how to say it.

She knew what was going to be asked already. The problem was getting enough force into her words to convince the school's number one top graded student to leave them alone.

In the end, she chose to err against caution. Caution had only encouraged him before. She waited until they were both comfortably seated at the table, far away from the scant other patrons before leaning in, her eyes gleaming as if she was facing Kujou or Lady Scorpio again. Trying to make a mark on that supposedly eidetic memory of his.

"I've had enough of this."

Shukiji looked neither amused or entirely dire. His single visible eye regarded her the same way she knew he regarded everyone else- someone who was only of interest to him because she knew something that he didn't. If she'd been a normal first-year student like she had imagined earlier, then he might have never even bothered to learn her name.

"Then end it, Tsuruga. Tell me what I want to know, and I can stop bothering you. I have, of course, brought gifts to trade."

"And you still don't get it", she grunted in exasperation. "I said no. Rosea-kun said no. _Mira_ said no when you asked her. What makes you think this is going to go any differently than before?"

Utterly calm, he pulled out a folded slip of paper onto the table. "Information on your true nationality", he explained briskly. "It took a lot of digging, but here it is. Sorry for being so late."

She looked up, imploring a square ceiling light for guidance she knew she didn't actually need. _Can't tell him. He'd want to go there._

"Thank you for that. But no. Sorry."

Disappointingly, this wasn't enough to make him quit. If anything, he looked mildly curious now, moving the note pack off of the table. "So you're not even slightly interested in where you came from?"

"It doesn't matter to me any more", she pouted, folding her arms defiantly. "I'm me. Go ahead. Tell everyone at school that I'm a _gaijin_ or a _hafu_. See if I care. You can't possibly make me less popular than I already am."

"That remains to be proven", he claimed, his one visible eye narrowing into focus. "Other students have warmed up to you in the past two months, haven't they?"

"A few", she admitted, briefly flashing back not only to Mira and Jiachi, but Reiha, Noel, Kotone and Keta as well. Once upon a time, she might have had Shukiji on that list as well, but she understood him better now. "And they wouldn't care where I'm from any more than I do."

Shukiji shrugged, for a moment seeming to accept a defeat. "Fair enough. But can you really say the same thing about the true identity of your father?"

 _That_ took her longer to deal with and process, but the result felt the same in the end. "Okay. Now _that_ , I'd definitely like to learn some day... But when I do, I want it to be from a source I can be sure of."

That, in turn, was enough to break Shukiji's own careful composure, his front bang sliding away to reveal his second eye as he rose out of his seat. "Every fact I offer to people is always the verified truth, Tsuruga. I always double check my sources. I never lie, and I expect the same courtesy in return."

"Then believe me when I tell you", she countered evenly, "that we have a good reason for keeping this secret away from you, Niyoga. Knowing it could put you in some real danger. I'm not lying about that."

He paused breathlessly, momentarily considering her warning before blowing it off. "Please. You can't possibly expect me to take that threat seriously. There's no knowledge in this world-"

"-that I shouldn't have", she finished irritably. "Yes, yes, we know, get a new catch phrase already."

Once again he was carefully studying her face for clues, making her feel as though she were under a microscope. "You've been injured recently", he noted in genuine surprise. "And you're not getting very much sleep either. Hm. Maybe you're not bluffing after all. But I'll be the one to decide if it's too risky for me or not."

Which naturally brought her own mind back to the question that always popped up whenever she thought about Shukiji, and now he was right in front of her to face it.

"Why? Why is it so important that you know everything, Niyoga? Do you ever use all that information you've got stored away to actually help people? Or do you just use it to control them? Is being the smartest person around _really_ so great, if it means you don't have any friends?"

A polite, condescending laugh answered her questions. "Yes, I expected that you might say something horribly cliched like that. Especially considering... never mind." Far from impressed, he leaned back in his chair, raising an arm to gesture at one of the amber wood bookshelves lining the room. "There's another reason that I chose this spot, you know."

Uncomprehending, she raised an eyebrow. "Well of course you love the library. All these books. It's not really my favorite place to be, but it's a nice quiet study area. I spend lots of time here getting ready for tests."

"I'm glad that you approve", he noted before pointing at one of the shelves with a sudden disgusted face. "In fact, I do appreciate most of the reading material here, except for... _that_."

Aiko stared, following his finger until she recognized the slim volumes and the artwork adorning them. "Light graphic novels. So what? There's nothing wrong with them."

Even more disgusted by her reaction, Shu gave her a pitying glare. "Manga has no place in a school, Tsuruga. You have no idea how... _disappointed_ I was to learn that Vitienne-san's current ambition is to become a manga artist."

That rocked her, though not in the way the short boy had clearly intended. Her eyes widened in interest and she smiled back excitedly.

"Really? That's awesome! I'm sure he'll do really well at-"

"It is a _waste_ ", Shukiji countered with a fury she had never seen in him before now. She had known early on that Noel was actually the closest thing to a friend that Shu had, and they had grown up together in middle school with Ayano Furusato.

Supposedly back then, at least according to Noel, Shukiji had been easier to get along with compared to now. Perhaps Ayano's death had affected him too, though he would never admit it.

"If it's what Vitienne-kun wants to do", she tried. "Then as his friend, you should support his career choice."

"A waste", Shukiji repeated with vitriol, directing her over to the bookshelf. Despite his earlier signs of revulsion, he didn't act as though the books there were contaminated, merely holding a few up for her to observe the covers. Aiko's eyes lit up when she recognized the artist's name too.

"Oooh! Hey, some volumes by Kamachi. I love his art. Kubo-san too. And is that a collection of Takaha-"

"Thousands and thousands of books", he cut her off tersely. "Millions of pictures, all demanding an artist's careful hand. All of it devoted to the cultural rot of this country."

She stared back at him dismissively, feeling a bit like Keta when he was trying to figure if she had been kidding or not about him being Hex. But Shukiji's face held no trace of humor this time. "You sound way more melodramatic than any of these books."

Shukiji let the insult pass by, angrily stuffing the books back into their spots on the shelf. "I hoped that you, of all people, might understand. You seemed intelligent and logical when we first met. I suppose it's difficult for someone like you to grasp it."

Ignoring his boastfulness in turn, Aiko leaned on the shelf. "Try me."

For once, Shu had to pause to put his thoughts in order before speaking again. "There's a lot about our home country that I'm proud of. The devout commitment to harmony, the courtesy towards superiors and elders, the supreme respect given to education. There's only one thing I've seen here that I really despise, and that is the cultural pressures of manga and anime."

"Again, so much drama. Have you ever considered writing some?"

He looked tormented by the very idea. "I haven't been able to piece together exactly what caused it. Assigning blame at this point is pointless anyway. Over the past fifty years, our people have gravitated more and more towards an emphasis on... cute things."

Aiko's face darkened, fists tightening. "And... what is wrong with cute things, may I ask?"

"Nothing. Unless you develop a cultural obsession with them to the exclusion of all other earthly concerns, as so many of our people have."

What she wanted to do right then was summon up Jack Frost and show him just how 'useless' cute things really were, but she knew that was impossible here and Shukiji was already heading swiftly onto another track.

"Illogical cute things aside, let me put this another way for you, Tsuruga. If it was Kohru Tatsunoko asking you to share this secret with him instead of me... would you?"

It was impossible for her not to become flustered by the accusation, and even more not to dwell on its implications. Retreating back to her seat at the table didn't make him let up at all.

"There's no need for you to answer that one. You see, I can already tell by your reaction. You're blushing. You would share anything with him, if it meant you getting closer to him."

"No", she protested, genuinely angry in a way she hadn't felt in weeks. "I wouldn't. Don't put words in my mouth, Niyoga!"

His young-seeming lips formed an innocent smile. "Is that what I'm doing? Or am I just reading your tells the way I have learned to over the past two months? Every person has their tells, and yours are quite obvious, I'm afraid."

Ai realized then that without meaning to, she had pulled her head down and away from Shukiji, so that the thump of a particularly colorful visual novel on the table came as a surprise.

"It's not entirely your fault, Tsuruga", he said more candidly. "That's my point, you see. Like everyone else, you've lived and grown up in a land where _that_ is the single most popular form of entertainment. That, and a hundred thousand other books and issues similar to it, with more coming out all the time. Many containing erotic content."

Still trying to understand, she popped open the book. The artwork was well done as usual, the story looking like some kind of harem story set after an apocalyptic war had killed the majority of men, with all the obvious changes in social norms that implied... along with a few that weren't quite so understandable.

"That book", Shukiji told her in an uncharacteristically cold fury, "and all of its type, exist only to provide an excuse to have the artists draw eager young girls with impossibly large buttocks and breasts... because that is what makes it sell. _That_ is what my old friend is throwing away his life for. To spend his time drawing _socially-accepted pornography_."

"Stories", she waved the accusation away, placing the book back on the shelf. "They're just stories."

"Best-selling stories", Shu countered. "And you know as well as I do that stories can influence reality just as reality influences stories. You've seen the Emma Muller's chain of restaurants, haven't you? An entire _franchise_ built on the ridiculous allure of having all of its waitresses dress up as cute maids, and act the part as well."

 _Forget seen_ , she thought numbly. She'd almost been hired to work at an Emma Muller's restaurant once, only turning it out after hearing some horror stories from a former employee there.

"So what?"

He shook his head in dismay. "Now, think of everything you've experienced here at Koashimizu academy. Look at the skirt on your school uniform. In fact, I believe one of the first insults that Kujou-san leveled at you when you arrived here was stuffing your bra, wasn't it? You've seen it for yourself. The girl students here and in countless other schools actually compete with each other in such things. And the majority of them would happily light themselves on fire if it meant earning the exclusive company of Tatsunoko-san, or perhaps a few of the other more handsome male students here."

She regarded him dismissively. "And you seriously think that _manga_ is to blame for all of that stuff? Yes, Tatsunoko-senpai is very attractive and cute. I know that. But-"

"It's cultural pressure", he insisted. "Pressure for you to act in certain ways repeated endlessly in story after story. It's made our country a laughingstock!"

Aiko closed her eyes and held her breath. It would be a lie to say that she hadn't thought poorly about some of the things Shukiji had described to her... But even now, when she had personally observed illustrations of a working relationships between cognition and reality, it seemed too wild to believe.

 _And even if it is true, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. You can't change what people like._

 _And you shouldn't._

Breathe out. Her eyes locked into his, but were no less disparaging than before. "That's a very... interesting theory, Niyoga. But it doesn't change my decision. No."

His teeth clenched tight, sucking air in and out, Shu stared out at the library windows, as if finally accepting that everything he'd said and done today had been a waste of his time. The burning resentment that rose from this fact suffused his normally pleasant voice, making it scathing instead.

"As I said Tsuruga, I thought that you were more mature than most of the foolish girls here. _Clearly_ I was in the wrong, this time." Averting his eyes as if she was something hideous, he stared into a bookshelf instead. "You're just like all the rest of them. You've been shaped, Tsuruga. You're another copy of an image. Just a bouncing pair of mammary glands and underwear, your mind more hormones than brain cells."

But she barely seemed to hear the details of his accusations. Far from the anger she had first expected, she felt... sad. Shukiji had been the first student of Koashimizu who had actually reached out to her. Even if it was for his own selfish reasons, that fact would always remain. She would always remember the time they'd spent together at the cliffs, exchanging stories and mocking the idea of a hidden portal at the beach which would send you to the world of your dreams.

But another fact that could no longer be denied by her was that whatever bond she had thought existed between them was now gone. Shukiji was not like other students. He held her in the same contempt that he held for all the female students of Koashimizu academy. For anyone who enjoyed manga as she did. More, since she had held onto a secret he desired and refused to share it with him.

With a resigned sigh, she rose from her chair, quickly heading to the door and out in the hall. "I'm so sorry, Niyoga-kun. I think that we're done here now."

The strange thing was, she didn't feel any differently than before, at least not at first.

She stood out there in the hallway letting minutes and students roll on by, alternatively relieved that Shukiji wasn't following her and frightened that for once, she couldn't think of anything she felt like doing.

 _I tried. I really did. I thought he was just weird. Eccentric. Shukiji would be a great friend to have for us, because he's so smart. But if he's going to talk to me- to anyone- like that, then we'll just have to make do without him._

It wasn't an easy admission to make to herself, but it was over now. Done.

She decided that her energy might be better spent finding Noel and giving him the encouragement in his new goal that Shukiji wouldn't.

Then her phone beeped.

* * *

6/11 Tuesday

Evening

Some hours later, Jiachi Rosea sat out on the tiny pier of wood someone looking for a jest might call a back porch. Constrained by a fence and surrounded by the gray walls of nearby housing, it had never provided any kind of view to speak of.

Yet, his grandfather, Gentaro- or George, depending on who you asked- had used this spot more times than he could remember. While hardly aesthetically pleasing like some back decks he'd seen, it provided a welcome reprieve from how crowded their house could feel when they had guests, and for now he relished the privacy.

He didn't even mind when he heard the door behind him slide open, and Mirambela walked out to where he was seated to lie down beside him.

"You didn't need to provoke him like that", she said neutrally.

Peering up through the gap between roofs at the stars, he smiled into the sky. "I think I kinda did. Had to get it off my chest, or it'd just keep eating me up inside all the time. Besides, this was the only day of the year I might be able to get away with this."

His 17th birthday party hadn't stood out at all... until he'd made it stand out. His mother had prepared exquisite grilled teriyaki as one of his favorite dishes, and his father had gotten him an expensive-looking electric razor as a present. That in itself, he supposed, was a kind of concession. A neutral gift signifying one's becoming a man, and without any overtones of trying to push him into behaving more Japanese.

He could pretend that was the reason why he'd felt bad about bringing Aiko and Mira as surprise guests, and after a lovely dinner, making the proclamation to both of his parents that the two of them were his friends.

His mother had been happy to hear it, filling their meal with spirited table conversation. Even now, she was in the kitchen trying to teach Aiko a certain Starlight recipe she had been trying to perfect.

On any other day, his father might have protested. At least, that was what he had believed. In end, his staid acceptance of it surprised Jiachi, lacking even the hint of a later retribution to come for this sudden change of plans.

"It's the truth", he went on. "You two are my only friends. And if my old man has a problem with that, then too freakin' bad. That's what a real man does, right? Stands up for himself?"

"I guess so", Mira said, once again feeling like the wet blanket. Fighting off those instincts, she sat down next to him, noticing for the first time that he had carefully chosen a spot where someone looking out the back window would be unable to see them.

"Thank you, Rosea-kun. The party was lovely, and so was the game. I think it was exactly what Ai-chan needed to help get her mind off this whole Masked Circle business."

"We're not done with those d-bags", he pointed out. "Not by a long shot. Getting rid of all the Shadows they captured is just the start. But yeah, I know. You gotta unwind sometimes, or you'll go nuts. Gramps told me that."

"He knew what he was talking about", Mira agreed. "I... I know what it's like to lose someone in the family. One of my sisters, she..."

"Hey, easy", he cautioned. "This is supposed to be happy time, remember? Don't go into it if it's just gonna make you sad. Heh. It's my fault for being so morose, I guess. Sorry 'bout that."

She blinked. "No need to apologize. In my home, growing a year older is also a time for reflection. A time to reconsider what you want to change about your life- about yourself- in the coming year."

"Sounds like I've gotten a head start there."

"Yes." She smiled back. "You were very courageous back there. You made it clear that you wouldn't let him- or his fear of JCAP- decide who you made friends with. I would have been less confrontational about it myself, if it had been my Papa... but I've come to realize that's the difference between us."

"There's a few more differences than that, I'd say", he said casually. "But yeah. Happy to have you here, Sorano. Tsuruga-chan as well. I'm just glad my old man didn't flip out completely and yell at you two to leave."

"If he had", she assured him, "we wouldn't have held it against you. Ai-chan knows what it's like, having difficult parents."

He gave a light sigh. "Credit where due, he has been getting a lot less difficult lately. That was the other reason I thought I might be able to get away with this."

"That's good", Mira nodded. "So if that's not what's troubling you, then what is?"

Part of him wanted to lie and say that everything was fine. But she deserved better than that.

He took a deep breath. "Suguru Kamoshida."

"Who?"

He laughed nervously. "You don't even remember who he is? Heh. That's good, I guess. A d-bag like that shouldn't occupy very much space in anyone's mind. He doesn't deserve to be remembered. I never met him myself. I only know him by reputation... and the stuff that Takamaki-san told me about him."

"Ann Takamaki", Mira recognized that name. "Another Phantom Thief, like Nijima-san and Kurusu-sensei."

"Yeah", he muttered. "She told me all about it. Kamoshida was the Phantom Thieves' very first target. He was a gym teacher who physically abused boys... and harassed girls. And more. Very, very _un_ cool."

"Now I remember his name", Mira said more somberly. "From the Phantom Thieves documentary we watched. He was a monster. A rapist. A true _shetani._ "

"Uh-huh. A monster with a Palace, which is sort of like a Land. And in that Palace, where his true feelings about his victims could be seen..." He shuddered. "What's been bugging me is that it wasn't even that far off from what my Land was like. You saw my cognition of Tsuruga-chan, didn't you?"

"Yes. I did", Mira refused to let her voice falter. "It was... awkward."

"No kiddin'. And Kamoshida's Palace was chock full of cognitions like that. People who had been reduced to nothing but his slaves, because that's how he wanted them to be. So..."

His voice finally began to crack, no matter how he tried to stop it, coming out as a weltering whisper. "So, what does that say about me? Does that mean that I'm a monster, just like him?"

A flat denial came to her lips for a moment before being considered and dropped. "Rosea-kun. You said before that you trust Ai-chan's judgement more than you do your own. Did she ever hint that she thought you were a monster?"

"No", he admitted. "She didn't. But, but my Shadow-"

"Your Shadow?", she cut him off. "There's still a lot we have to learn about Shadows. But from what we're found so far, I know that a Shadow is your very worst self. It's the suppressed, destructive part of you that most people keep carefully hidden away, the evil thoughts that you think about when you're really angry, then drop just as fast. Because the rest of you knows better, and feels shame for even considering those thoughts."

Unsure of how to respond, Julian simply stared blankly, letting Mira continue.

"You never saw my Shadow, Rosea-kun. She... my Shadow was a clanking, beeping metal giant with my face, and she was _horrible_. You never saw how the robots there were exiling cognitions representing everyone I didn't like down into a dark pit, and planning for their extermination once I was trapped as part of that world."

Staring down into the wood of the deck, she shook her head. "For a long time, I wondered if having those thoughts buried inside of me made me a bad person too. But do you know what the difference between you and Kamoshida is?"

"He's in jail and I'm not?", Julian suggested jokingly.

"I was going to say, he's an adult", she said once she'd finished chuckling. "You talked to Takamaki-san about this, and I watched the documentary with Ai-chan. Kamoshida's behavior in the real world was also despicable. Not even that far away from how his Shadow acted in the Metaverse. Adults are supposed to grow out of such things and become mature, but he didn't. He stayed the same. No one stopped him. No one until the Phantom Thieves."

Jiachi looked thoughtful. "So, maybe I was on my way to becoming a d-bag like him in the next ten years. Maybe I would have, if I hadn't gone to Faraway Lands, and seen the truth of myself."

Mira looked back at him, sympathy clear in her dark eyes. "No. That is far too grand an assumption for you to make, Rosea-kun. There are too many other factors in life to consider. Such as the position of authority he was granted after winning an Olympic gold medal."

With a comforting smile, she leaned back against the house wall. "Regardless, I don't think you would have ever become that way. All it took was a little pushing from us, and you saw the truth of it, all on your own. And you decided, all on your own, that you didn't want to be that person."

Jiachi snickered. "More like I saw just how shitty a world where I control everything would actually be. Yeah, it was fun for a little while, but..."

"You're not a monster, Rosea-kun", she said, her tone serious again, gripping his hand in her own. "You're arrogant, and reckless, and you're still much too concerned about 'being cool' for my tastes, whatever that actually means... but _you are not a monster_. Certainly not in the way that Kamoshida was. And you saved Ai-chan's life too. Don't ever forget that."

"I won't", he promised. "Not ever."

Something wet struck his leg and he checked back in the sky for rain, only realizing then that a tear had crept up on him without either of them realizing it. He would have pulled away out of reflex, were it not for Mira's grip.

"Shit... Damn it, I mean... Real men aren't supposed to cry."

"I won't tell anyone", Mira hushed him. "Besides, it's your birthday today. You do what you want."

So he did. He made no further effort to block out the tears, or the words that wanted to escape from him. "Damn it... Damn it, I'm so damn lucky. I'm so damn lucky to have two wonderful, smart, cute, beautiful-"

"Shh", she cut him off. "You'll make Ai-chan blush. Oh."

From her tone, Jiachi assumed that Aiko had finally come out the back door to meet them, but as he cleared the blurriness away from his eyes, he saw that it wasn't her.

It was Pelagio. He'd swooped down through the darkness onto a nearby roof before gliding across the gap and onto the nearby fence post, his eyes screwed tight with determined focus.

"Pela-tori?", Mira asked in surprise. "I thought you were supposed to be looking around for Hex."

"I was", the falcon replied, his voice stripped of its usual aplomb, deadly serious. "But I witnessed something during my patrol that I felt I should let our captain know of immediately."

That got them standing up fast, Julian looking into Pelagio's raptor gaze with near equal intensity. "What's up? Is it Mr. Kurusu? Has something happened with-"

"No. Kurusu is currently visiting with the Nijima woman at the hospital, as he usually does. I came here because there is a gate that has appeared at the beach."

Mira froze. "A gate? At the Yume Bay?"

"...No. Not the Yume Bay."

* * *

Persona Profile #7: _Tam Lin_

Arcana: Sun

Strength: Bless, Physical

Weakness: Gun

Abilities: Tarukaja, Aqua, Malaqua, Zan, Endure, Blade of Fury

Background: A famous fairy who was said to haunt Caterhaugh Wood in England. He supposedly lured young women away to ruin them. He was once a human who had been trapped by the Fairy Queen. A young woman named Janet is said to have fallen in love with him at one point, and finally managed to free him.

* * *

A/N: Short chapter here. but structure demands. Next one will be longer.

Happy St. Patrick's day.


	35. Occupied Sector

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _The Lights And Sounds And Smells And Souls Of A City_

 _Born Of Torment And Ecstasy_

* * *

6/12 Wednesday

After School

The bright-hulled vessel carved through the sea with a speed that seemed impossible given the rough state of the water. Even if it were perfectly calm, the Shadows dwelling on the nearby island were unused to having visitors.

Not that they didn't know the proper response to such a thing. As soon as the ship's gangplank lowered and three pirates walked onto the shore's gray dirt, the closest Shadows pounced.

That crew, in turn, knew the correct response to the attack. One of them, fair brown sugar haired and wearing a stylish red duster jacket, had a pair of revolvers up and out of his belt in less than a second, unleashing a stream of bullets into the enemy that was occasionally punctuated with blasts of fire.

The second one, clad in a revealing dancer's outfit and golden eye mask below pitch dark hair, chose instead to dodge the charging creatures, spinning and weaving around them with a supernatural grace until the time came to strike them down with bolts of lightning, or blasts of green hurricane-force winds. Those lucky few who actually got close enough instead were met by a pair of ornamental enamel daggers wielding with the same striking agility as the rest of her movements.

But the one who finally broke the horde's will and turned their rush into a panicked flight was the third one in the center, the pale-haired leader. Covered by a gold-buttoned captain's coat with a floppy-brimmed hat that blocked the enemy's sight of her eyes but not her own vision, she pulled out a slow but powerful flintlock pistol to fire at those at a distance before breaking out a far more fearsome weapon- a pair of period-era cutlasses that tore through mottled black flesh with every slash. When that failed, a vast, impossible to predict array of other skills were called on to destroy the survivors.

The Shadows who stopped long enough to look at their attackers would see nothing of the leader's face except lips twisted into a canny, almost cruel smirk, as if she already knew the battle's outcome before it had begun. With her prediction validated, the female captain lunged out towards a Shadow who was defeated, but not quite dead yet.

The Shadow, a shiny blue-skinned gargoyle shape toting a pitchfork after he'd shed the initial disguise of living black ooze with a bone white mask, quavered before the sight before him. As she drew closer, the Shadow could see further beneath the hat, making out a nose... and a single visible eye that burned with emerald fire.

"There's a new Land here", a young but focused-sounding, almost inhuman voice said. "Have you seen it?"

"N-no!", the creature protested, unable to fly any more with his every move hampered by all-consuming fear. "I swear, I dunno! I haven't seen any new Lands 'round here!"

"Are you sure?", the heavy contralto voice prodded his mind like it was a solid object. "Because, if you're lying to us... There are things we can do to you that will make you envy your comrades' fates."

"I swear, I don't know anything! Please, spare me! I'll do whatever you want!"

The lips turned up, as if satisfied with that answer. "There is one thing we can do to make sure of that. Join with me. You will get to see the new Land for yourself."

More than at a loss, the large-headed Shadow dropped his pitchfork in defeat. "Alright... You win. I'm Brute Bilwis. I'm just a farmer, really. But I might be able to help you some other way."

The Shadow became a riot of colors, surging around the captain before flowing into her-

And Makoto Nijima opened her eyes.

There wasn't very much for her to see. The heart monitor next to her bed defied expectations by being small enough to easily cart in and out of the hospital rooms, only making any noise if she was actually in danger. An IV stood next to the bed, always kept full but unused at the moment. The rest of the room had been kept in a low, sedate light for ease of sleep.

It was a relief for her to see that someone had been monitoring her, because a nurse opened the door less than thirty seconds later. Old looking, but still energetic, she locked her eyes into Makoto's and smiled.

"You're up. Are you able to remember why you're here?"

"I am", she halted, voice catching on vocal cords that hadn't seen use in several days. Her lips were cold and dry. Bitter-tasting, as if subjected to medicine.

 _Shiho Suzui_ , she flashed back on her memory of a petite, dark-haired girl. Considering her career- her _careers,_ plural- she considered it amazing how few times she had been to hospitals. The first time had been when she'd tried to visit Shiho Suzui, who had thrown herself from the roof of Shujin Academy seven whole years ago. That visit had gone very badly, but-

Was this how Shiho had felt too, when she'd finally woken up? It felt like she was still sleeping, like the air in the room was too heavy and her body too light.

Like she was still in that dream world, where she'd seen a crew of Persona-users fighting Shadows. _Just a dream,_ she told herself. Even if it wasn't, she was in no shape to react to it just yet. Her arm and leg bones ached terribly, and her skin felt unnaturally clammy beneath the bed sheet.

 _For now, just focus on getting better._

The nurse seemed happy to see that her patient had already made the most important deduction- that even if she was up, getting better was priority one. Now they could move on to other matters.

"You've been a very popular guest, miss Nijima. No surprise, since it was on all the local news."

"Who?"

The nurse looked like she was calling up a mental list. "Well, there was officer Hideki. A few other cops later on, as well as some high school students. Chief Kagasawa came by on Monday. Oh yes, Akira Kurusu. He's been visiting you every day."

Warmth flooded her being and she relaxed. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me. Thank Mr. Kurusu. And everyone else who came to wish you well."

"Yes", she nodded, still groggy. The diagnosis could wait. She felt fine, anyway. Nothing broken, which was a miracle considering how high she'd fallen from. "I plan to."

* * *

It was after the fourth island they'd cleared out that Mirambela began to lose patience.

Carefully patching up any injuries with restorative medical items instead of healing skills to spare her own reserve of energy, she gazed across the barren gray sand and sighed. "This is getting us nowhere. Maybe we should have prepared first."

Rapidly spinning one revolver on his gloved hand, Julian holstered it before responding. "Hey, we did prepare. Saber had medicine ready to go and everything."

"I mean, preparations to help us find this place", she elaborated with a pained expression, recognizing that she was beginning to revert to old habits and unable to stop them. "We should have waited a few days first, looked around to see who's disappeared."

"Which would be a few days taken off our time limit", Pelagio reminded her, calmly cleaning black goop off his shield and broadsword. "Hmph. Knowing who it was we sought would not aid us in determining the location of their Land."

"Still, frustrating. I get it.", Aiko acknowledged from her seat on a rock once she had made sure that the poison antidote they'd brought was working right, cleansing away the venom from another Shadow who had gotten too close. After the amount of it they had encountered in the previous Land, she knew it was important to be ready for any contingency. "Gunslinger's Land didn't take us this long to find, and I washed up on yours. All we have to do is keep checking the other islands and interrogating the Shadows there, and we should find something soon."

Mira remained uncertain. "But by the time we've done all that, we'll be too tired to actually fight the Shadows there."

"Which is why we need to at least locate it before we turn in for today", their captain pointed out. "Whoever it was, their life is on the clock now. I'd like to avoid cutting it as close as we did last time, if we can."

"And there's that lovely optimism again", Jiachi noted, gazing out across the dark horizon with creases of worry on his face. "Man! I had no idea just how big this place really was until now. Does it ever end?"

"If it does", Aiko warned him, "please call it out so we can change course. The last thing we want is to fall over the edge of the map."

"We have a map?"

"We do, actually", Pelagio explained, gesturing to his shiny beaked helmet with one gauntlet. "When I transform into a boat, one of my rooms is a map room. Dancer has been there before, I believe."

"When I was exploring", Mira shrugged. "We were on our way to your Land, and I was looking for something to do between Shadow attacks. Too bad the maps were all blank."

"My sincerest apologies", Pelagio bowed to them. "However, I can assure you we have no chance of becoming lost at sea, so long as we continue to mark down each island we visit. Excuse me a moment."

He took that time to walk out into the reflective water and transform back into the familiar shape of their ship. While the team had initially been excited to see that he had developed two new cannons since their last visit- one on each side, giving them a total of six- the repetition of invading each new island and defeating the Shadows there had slowly eroded that enthusiasm. At least, it had for Mira.

Aiko's ability helped a little. She'd made it a habit of taking one Shadow from each island as a new mask, or at least trying to. The bipedal tentacled chicken lizard on the previous island hadn't been cooperative, suddenly turning vicious even though it had no chance of victory alone. The others, she claimed, added not only to her power, but her knowledge of the surrounding area.

To prove that, they'd gone and dug up another treasure chest on a tiny spit of rock near Mira's Land. A treasure that only the Shadow called Bilwis had known of, which thankfully had not contained another Shadow, but a pair of gleaming silver daggers which Aiko had happily handed to Mira.

These prizes kept her spirits up longer, but as the search wore on and on, and she spent more time in the map room that anxiousness only rose. Julian was right. Faraway Lands was a vast ocean beyond any of their imaginations, and locating a single Land in it was a needle in several extremely hostile haystacks.

"What if", she blurted the realization without caring who heard. "What if Pelagio was wrong?"

Aiko startled her by descending from the mast on a rope. "What do you mean, wrong?"

Trying to remain steady, she shook her head. "What if no one came in here?"

Their captain pondered the idea, but seemed to discard it just as quickly. "That would make no sense. The only reason the gate appears is when someone wants to enter this world, and even then only at the time when the sun sets into the water, right?"

"And what", Mira asked fearfully, "what if that someone is... you?"

To her immense relief, Aiko didn't take visible offense to the suggestion, possibly already sensing how much she feared a reprisal over it. "It's true that one of the rules got broken. The gate is supposed to appear at the Yume Bay, and this time it was along the beach closer to the campus where Byzael-" She winced, biting down on a glove. _If this portal hurt him..._ "Where the fishermen's boats usually rest."

"The exact same place it was the night before", Pelagio's voice emanated from the deck. "However, I did not see anyone go into it. I merely watched over the gate until it closed, and then flew directly to you."

"And yet no one else saw it?", Mira wondered out loud. "That seems weird too. None of this makes sense. Could it be some kind of trap?"

"If it is", Julian remarked dryly, drawn in by their conversation. "Then it's a pretty shitty trap. We've been kicking Shadow butt the whole way- Wild Bill is _way_ stronger over on this side. Even if we get tired, we can leave whenever we want to, right?"

All eyes turned to their captain, who finally looked like she was beginning to share Mira's concerns, her eyes blinking rapidly trying to comprehend something they couldn't grasp.

"Yes... I think so. Still, if it _was_ a trap, then..." Searching their surroundings again, she climbed the stairs to the upper deck rail and stared across the water to the north. "Just in case, I _think_ we should check on the gate. We know it stays open for a few minutes in the real world, but we don't know how long it stays open on this side."

Pelagio sounded chagrined, but never defiant. "As you say, captain. Please adjust my main sail to the northeast then. We must change course."

The sensation of lapping water, the breeze, the stars... Ironically, Mira found all the sensations of sea travel more enjoyable now that they were no longer headed towards an uncertain fate, and back towards the safety of their own world.

More importantly, no one else gave even a hint that they considered her cowardly for suggesting it. Pelagio might have said something about it if the others weren't there, but she didn't mind. For all she could tell, it might have been the truth.

"There", Jiachi called from the upper deck rail, pointing left. "Gate ho! Or something."

The rift was still there, still unchanged from its usual state, always pulsing in a way that made it impossible to tell if water was going into or coming out of it. It was located far enough away from any Land that the area around it always felt strangely calm, signifying a 'safe zone' of sorts.

"Huh", Mira noted in a tone of deliberate forced conversation, walking up to Aiko now that they were safe. "Maybe it wasn't a trap after all. Maybe it was just a glitch?"

Their captain said nothing. Her body had become completely still, skin paling, her eyes racing about in a frightened panic, a white-gloved hand drifting down to uselessly grab the handle of her pistol as if to pull it free and shoot.

"Saber? What's wrong? _Captain?"_

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the trance was lost. In its place was raw terror.

"Change course, hard to port!", she shrieked at anyone who could hear the command and act on it. "Rig the topsail, NOW! Dancer, give it all the wind you can!"

Mira frowned, voice trailing off as she felt it. "What? But we're almost... there."

Water did not normally quake. Even though the properties of the Faraway Lands' water were obviously very different from normal, there were still many similarities. A reflective surface made entirely of liquid didn't normally tremble in a way that could be felt on a ship.

And yet, as they watched, the stars laid out upon this sea trembled.

They were far enough away to feel the shaking reduce slightly before it surged back one hundredfold. An enormous whirlpool gathering near the rift heralded it, growing wide enough to engulf Pelagio before allowing what lay beneath the surface to pass through it and crash deafeningly onto the surface, dousing them all even at this distance.

"Go!", Mira could still hear Aiko's screaming over the cacophony of the spray. "As fast as you can! Straight ahead!"

"What-", Mira coughed weakly, trying to stand after the impact had knocked her off her feet and left her dizzy. "What _is_ that?"

The ship which had emerged was easily twice the length of Pelagio, and possessed twice the number of cannons. Threatening black armor plates covered every inch of the hull, while ringing clusters of chains tied between the frames somehow acted as sails. Likewise, despite having no visible crew, the ship vectored to chase them at such a speed she'd barely realized it had happened until coming face to face with the enormous hanging scythe at the front of the prow.

"It's the **Reaper**!", Aiko shouted. "Dancer, full speed! NOW!"

She didn't need to be told a third time. Her Persona's powers manifested, filling Pelagio's largest sails with a green wind swift and driving enough to be impossible in reality. It pushed the ship ahead so fast that she already felt the beginnings of motion sickness, although that would be preferable to the alternative. With that boost, the waves and rocks seemed to fly past them, the Lands mere momentary passerby.

Yet, when she looked back, the Reaper's ship was still there, tucked in behind them. If anything, it had actually gained distance on them since it had emerged.

There was a brief distraction for a moment when a giant octopus-shaped Leviathan Shadow blasted out of the depths, its frozen white jaws clearly intent on the Reaper instead of them. It came within fifty feet of the hull before six cannons of varying elemental powers fired as one, blasting the creature apart without even slowing down.

From up near the helm, Aiko faced forward, trying not to let fear transform into complete panic. "Guns?"

"Sorry!", came Julian's stressed shout from below decks. "Can't target him until he's closer!"

 _At which point we'll probably be dead since he outguns us and can take more punishment._ She winced inwardly. This was starting to bring back bad memories of a certain train chase, except the Reaper's enormous warship had already shown better turning abilities. The same trick wouldn't work here.

Even from this distance, she could still hear the eerie rattling of chains coming from behind them, making it hard to think of anything but the most likely fate pursuing them.

"Saber, I can't-" Mira's voice sounded hoarse. "Can't keep this wind up much longer. Giving all I can..."

 _There's nothing you can do,_ a voice from nowhere began whispering in her mind. _No way to escape. All lives are eventually cut off by the Reaper when their time comes. Accept your inevitable fate._

 _Go to hell_ , she thought back, a message intended for no one except the voice in her head, her grip on the steering wheel tightening further. _My death is one thing. But Mira, Jiachi and Pelagio are counting on me._

Just as quickly as they had fallen into despair, her eyes rose back up again, casting out across the endless stretch of dark water for anything that might help them. Searching... and finding.

"There." Another minor island, dusty gray from left to right, over twice as long as it was wide. Various arching rock formations likely hid some Shadows, but that didn't stop her from hauling the ship's wheel over, changing course directly for the island's shore.

"Captain?", Pelagio's much more welcome, if concerned, voice reached her. "We cannot hide from the Reaper on that island as we did before. Once it locates a target-"

"It's fine", she promised. "Not planning to stay long. As soon as we hit the shore, transform and run to the beach on the other side."

"...Ah." Understanding, the ship's speed picked back up again to cross the last distance to the shore. Reverting to prevent a crash more than anything, Pelagio sped off down the sands, cutting down any opportunistic Shadows in his wake.

"Run!", she shouted to Mira and Julian, desperate to help them overcome their surprise at being so suddenly left on a beach by their vanishing ship. "Get to the other side, hurry!"

No other Shadows tried to stop them after the first wave. The rest had to be either scared of them, or scared of the ship that had now drawn close enough to make out the grim mechanical details of the rows of cannons and armor lining the sides, along with the scythe at the front that even now extended out and downward in preparation to strike a ship that was no longer there.

"Hurry! We have to keep going! Get to the other side, now!"

Seeing Mira trip in her haste and fall behind, Aiko thought they were lost for a moment, but then she felt the unseen pressure of Mira's Persona exuding a brief bit of power, and suddenly she was sprinting ahead of all of them, reaching the other side just as Pelagio waded into the water to transform again.

"On the guns as soon as you get on board!", their captain hollered after them. "Both of you! I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Jiachi's tone sounded alarmed, his eyes suddenly focused on her. "If you're planning on staying behind-"

"No!", she assured him as they both took a flying leap onto the gangplank. "Just need to check one thing first!"

The others saw it anyway, unable to stop themselves from pausing and staring as the Reaper's colossal ship slowed down, the dark waters beginning to gather around it in a wide circle again, spinning and spinning until the ship was steadily descending prow-first into a whirlpool; the reverse of how it had first appeared.

Within ten seconds, the entire ship had fallen into the abyss, and the pool began to close up as Mira breathed a visible sigh of relief. "Not yet", Ai told her. "We're not free yet. Get to the guns. As soon as you see another whirlpool open up near us, hit it with _everything."_

Gaping, she only starting running again when Julian grabbed her arm. That left their captain alone on the deck, moving around and trying to get a view of both sides of the ship at once.

Then, after a wait that seemed interminable but was likely only a few minutes, a stretch of water on their port side puckered up, and the whirlpool returned. "Now!", she shouted down to the others even while rushing down below to their location. "Port side! _Don't_ shoot the ship! Shoot the whirlpool! GO!"

Two streams lanced out towards the gathering pool before she was even done speaking. Red and golden energy of flame and lightning pelted the edges of it, followed shortly by a third one of blue.

"Damn", he heard Jiachi growl beside her as Pelagio carefully shifted their position to them give a better angle. "That thing can really just move anywhere it wants to?!"

"Looks like it. Together now, on the far edge."

They saw the spire at the front of the ship arise from the depths once more, the curved scythe in its tip extending like some kind of colossal fishing hook before the rest of the juggernaut's mass followed it up... And then their unified triple shot flew past the prow, past the cannons and scythe to cause a segment of of the whirlpool's edge to explode. The broken segment began to spread immediately as the rest of the pool continued spinning, until the entire boarder collapsed.

The Breach followed after, gallons of water crashing together on the ship jutting all the way up trying to escape it before dragging the main body back down, hauling the prow further and further backwards until no trace of it remained. Seconds later, the pool itself was gone.

"YES!", Mira cheered, for a moment forgetting all her fears and throwing up her arms in wild celebration. "We did it! Right?"

"For now", Pelagio's voice came back hesitantly. "The Reaper can't be destroyed so simply, but it will be a moment before it can return to the surface. Hopefully, this was enough to cause it to lose our scent. Well done, all of you."

"Well done to our captain!", Jiachi put a supporting hand to her shoulder. "Never would've thought to do that myself."

"I wasn't completely sure", Aiko admitted soberly, pulling her hat down to hide her face. "I knew it had the power to create Breaches wherever it wanted, and doing that would be faster than going around that island to get at us. I knew it had to use power to do that, power just like the kind that our Personas and the Shadow use. All we needed was enough of it to disrupt the Breach as it was appearing."

"A fine plan, regardless", Pelagio's voice seconded, this time getting her to yield and just accept the praise, smiling as they ascended back to the main deck.

"Uh-huh. Take that, Niyoga."

"Huh?", Mira looked confused. "What's this about Niyoga-kun?"

Aiko shrugged helplessly. "Um. Nothing much. You remember when he wanted to talk to me in the library at the soccer game yesterday? It got... harsh between us at the end. He basically said I was stupid for not telling him about the other world. And you know how creative he is with insults."

Julian made a revolted face. "Typical. Niyoga calls people stupid all the time. It's how he gets through the day. Genius? More like pen- uh, never mind."

"We should get going", Aiko reminded them briskly. "The Reaper won't stay down forever. All we did was make it angry."

"What _is_ that damn thing?", Jiachi wondered aloud, actually sounding shaken by how powerful and relentless their pursuer had been.

For once, Pelagio's voice didn't carry any animosity towards Jiachi's bluntness.

"Unfortunately, not even the Shadows know the truth of the Reaper's origins. They only know to avoid it as one might a vicious storm, save for the Leviathan Shadows who only see a meal in that cursed ship."

"Now _they_ are stupid", Ai remarked before noticing her friend had frozen up. "Dancer? What's wrong? I know that was scary-"

Mirambela said nothing. She pointed up, over her shoulder, and the others followed her finger.

The Land towered over the seas, a large asymmetrical cluster of square towers lit up by powerful white floodlights. Each side stood layered with grids of identical glass rectangles reflecting the light back, each tower with what looked like large cables strewn between them.

Yet of all this, the most striking image had nothing to do with the buildings, but rather the score of lozenge-shaped, moody-looking zeppelins which drifted far overhead, each one dangling several indistinct black shapes down from them and illuminating the city further with their pairs of front-mounted lights.

Their captain recovered first, heading back to the helm and gripping the wheel. "Well. I think we found it."

* * *

"Not that I'm doubting you, Saber", Mira began patiently as they drew ever closer to the Land's shore, "but how do you know? This one could have been here for years."

Eyes breaking from their focus on the city before them, more wary of the zeppelins than anything else, Aiko nodded, tapping the brim of her hat. "Because none of my new masks know it. I don't just take them for their power, you know, but for what they know about which Lands are new. None of them had any memory about this one, which means it's new, which means it's got a good chance of being the one we're looking for."

"A good chance", Mira repeated. "Not a guarantee."

"Not a guarantee", she echoed back. "But a pretty good shot at least. All I want to do right now is learn the name of this Land's ruler. That way, we can figure out if this one is what we're looking for. After that, we'll head back home."

"That's good to know", Mira said gratefully. "For a moment, I was worried that you wanted us to try and rescue them from here on the very first day."

Far from looking insulted by the suggestion, she smiled back. "Don't worry. I'm not that crazy. I know we've been at this a while already, and this place already looks huge. Our Personas give us strength and make us faster, but even here we've got limits."

"We do. But I'm glad you're keeping that in mind. As well as what happened to us the last time we arrived in a Land for the first time."

"Sorry", Julian muttered from the mast.

Their captain snorted. "Don't apologize. That was your Shadow. And if the ruler's Shadow wants to come out and meet us now like then, all the better. It'll be easy to learn who they are then."

She made it a point to lead the way off the gangplank once Pelagio hit the small industrial port that served the Land as an entrance, her boots striking the wood and concrete, one gloved hand hovering in readiness at her cutlass handle. Several large metal shipping crates and boats lay around the area, but they seemed more decorative than anything else, showing no signs of enemy movement.

"Shame nobody else saw that", Julian cracked as the others made their way off less dramatically. "Full marks for bravado there."

She smiled, winking back. "Sorry for stealing your bit, Gunslinger."

"Hey, you owned it", he replied, scanning the area for trouble just as the others were- it was a routine they'd quickly gotten the hang of. "It's like I always say. People see confidence, and Shadows are a lot like people, right? If I were a Shadow seeing you strut like that, ready to rumble... I'd probably run."

"A weak Shadow would indeed run... to warn its friends and come back with greater numbers", Pelagio pointed out, smoothly reverting to his armored form again. "A strong one would wait in hiding and charge us when our guard is down. We must be cautious."

Ignoring how relieved Mira looked not to be the only one preaching restraint any more, Jiachi shrugged. "Whatevs. No matter what comes, we'll deal. I'm really getting the hang of this now."

Nothing bothered the group as they made their way out of the wharf and up a staircase onto the roof of the first tower. As suspected, the geography of this city paid little heed to logic, having streets and alleys slung down below the sea level of the entry point. More immediately noticeable was the way that the various floodlights were bright enough to cast everything there into either pitch black or blinding white, with little to nothing in between the two.

"So bright", Jiachi remarked, pensively shielding his eyes as if he was remembering how his own Land had reduced everything to gold and brown sepia tones. "Feels like a film Noir."

"Sort of", Aiko agreed, focusing less on the city's strange aesthetics and more on the plodding movement of the zeppelins overhead. Gazing over at the various cables connecting the rooftops, she noted how the rectangle windows allowed no sight inside of the buildings, how the cables seemed to have cages and occasionally man-sized silver rings dangling down from them on chains.

No people walked these streets. What few cars there were showed no sign of ever being used, merely empty props like the boats and crates at the wharf had been. "No cognitions", she murmured uneasily. "And where are the- oh."

The closest zeppelin had now drawn close enough for her to see clearly, and almost immediately wished it hadn't. The indistinguishable figures dangling down from each dirigible were now obvious bipedal figures, each one body bound and tied into a tight black outfit without any visible openings and hung there on their chains by the neck, not moving.

The searchlight nearly blinded them for a moment as it cast its glare over them, the voice following just as much of a sensory overload.

"HALT, CRIMINALS! REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE AND WAIT TO BE RESTRAINED IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE!"

Another noise, even louder but thankfully much shorter, cut the shouting off, and the light shining into their faces went away as well. Julian stood, his weapon in hand and pointed at the light he had just destroyed.

"What was that? You'll have to speak up!", he shouted back, the surrounding silence making his voice sound weak and alone no matter how much volume he put into it. "Couldn't quite hear ya there!"

The second searchlight on the other side of the ship narrowed up, turning and moving over to keep them in sight for a moment before another gunshot rang out and it was shattered as well. That sudden loss didn't prevent Aiko from seeing the way another zeppelin was changing course towards them, adjusting its headlights as well to keep them in sight.

Or the way the first one was lowering its bound figurines down all around them. Figures which sprang to life the moment they hit the floor, suddenly mobile marionettes, almost spider-like, occasionally twitching in a way that suggested sharp stabs of pain as they approached.

"Cognitions?", Mira asked worriedly as they were quickly surrounded by the faceless grotesques.

"Doesn't matter", Aiko said, pointing her flintlock at the closest one and firing, the powerful shot tearing through the black outfit and only intensifying the figure's artless spasms. "Either way, we can kill them." _And it will be much easier than killing my cognition was._

She watched the spasms intensify until the entire outfit burst apart, whatever was left inside leaking out before forming into a different shape that would have been logically impossible for their bondage to contain. Taking shots from Mira and Julian, the rest of their attackers quickly followed suit, leaving behind a ring of enemies that were not as uniform but no less hideous for it.

"Shadows after all", she confirmed. She had seen some Shadows which were cute, or even beautiful. But from what she saw here, these ones seemed specifically chosen to share only the trait of wretched ugliness.

The most dominant type in the growing crowd, for example, was a purple-skinned man with short brown hair and the traditional black and white stripe prison outfit, forever bound in a floating wooden chair with a noose around his neck. Each one of them bore pained expressions fitting their situation, seeming more like an unwilling puppet to the chair that held them.

Another one, leading the charge, took the form of a headless knight clad in pale armor, the head still visibly alive and making expressions despite having a gory stump for a neck and clutched beneath one shoulder while the other arm brandished a sword.

The third type seemed determined to make up for the knight's lack of head, enormous white and red voodoo masks with leafy green manes and orange beaks encasing their craniums and making their scrawny blue-robed torsos and tiny arms look comically top heavy. The canes they bore hardly seemed enough to compensate for it, but none of them wobbled as they advanced.

Knowing without needing to count that they were outnumbered, Aiko pointed past a shambling knight towards one of the towers. "Break the ones along north side first. If they're too tough we can jump off there to escape."

No one answered her verbally. Instead, the sensation of the ability-enhancing skills Rakukaja, Tarukaja and Sukukaja being placed on her were the reply. They toughened her defenses, sharpened her blade, and lightened her feet all at once.

"Criminal scum!", one of the top heavy Shadows howled maniacally, a row of pearly white chompers below its mask sharp enough to be spikes. "Get them! They must work for Joker!"

Ignoring the gibbering of the others, Ai focused her own thoughts, calling upon her most reliable Persona. "Arise, Tam Lin!"

The snow-maned Persona which she'd come to rely on just as much as the Anne Bonny Persona it had been forged from descended, sword and armor looking far bleaker in this lighting but no less formidable.

"C'mon, you bastards!", she heard Jiachi shouting as had become his routine, drawing the enemy's attention to him at the expense of the others even as he riddled the enemy with bullets. "Bring it!"

As she'd noticed was often the case, much of what happened next became a blur in retrospect, impossible to pick apart one frenzied slash or defeated enemy from the next.

What she did manage to remember was much more important. Such as the fact that the prisoners in the floating chairs could use strong lightning skills if left alone, and that the big-headed ones could heal and even buff their allies.

Such as the fact that these Shadows didn't go down nearly as easily as any of the other ones they'd already fought today. Even after being struck by their weakness determined through trial and error- ice in the case of the big-headed ones and guns for the floating jailbirds- they refused to simply fold like so many before them had, only being destroyed after a concentrated effort from their team.

"Dancer!", she called over to where Mira had been engaged with a repulsive blue blob with glowing red eyes and a slack mouth. "Together!"

The other girl didn't need any further hints to what she meant. Her group-targeted wind skill picked up into a spinning gale large enough to cover the entire rooftop, joined quickly by its equivalent ice skill provided by Jack Frost; Mabufu. The stinging ice and screaming wind coalesced together, resulting in a biting blizzard that chilled even the casters. The true threat was the deadly flying chunks of hail, several of which impacted and destroyed the large-headed Shadows.

Yet their comrades did not flinch at the sight. Bearing the damage, they struck back as if nothing had happened, one long sword tearing a gash into Pelagio's armor and another blasting Mira back with a hot pink blast of psychokinetic power that demanded an immediate heal before she could resume the offensive.

Instead, their captain turned to where Julian had been furiously unloading dozens of shots into the closest enemies, shifting her own mind into the Persona of Lorelei. "Gunslinger, go!"

Once again, they filled the entire rooftop with the sound and fury of a combined elemental skill. The power of Mazan and Maragi came together, resulting in a blistering typhoon of heat that only spread Wild Bill's flames across dozens of targets. A few Shadows at the front winced, but taking in the entire battle made it disturbingly clear just how little damage the double attack had actually done to them.

"Thick hides!", she grumbled. Even the fragile-looking prisoners and their noose chairs required several slashes from Tam Lin before doing down. The others had held their own better, but the enemy had begun to coordinate their attacks now, breaking their formation instead of the other way around.

Finally, she'd had enough. It didn't take a genius tactician to recognize that they were minutes or less away from getting swarmed and slaughtered by this relentless enemy that simply didn't know when to stay down, that didn't seem to care about the pain they were receiving.

"Guardian, it's time! Do it!"

Immediately moving to cover Pelagio as she spoke, she saw one of the masked Shadows unleash a wave of bright scorching phosphorus against Mira's rapidly dodging form, while one of the headless knights gathered the power for some kind of special sword technique. The sinister circle of Lorelei's Makajam descended on the Shadow to block the attack before it could start-

And shattered.

Aiko stared at the knight's armor and the mocking expression on its severed head, confusion and the sense that something was very wrong here finally too much to ignore.

 _No. This isn't just thick hides. They're strong, but they're not that strong. Jiachi and the others are handling it better. Their skills are doing more damage to the Shadows than mine._

 _What's going on here?_

In fact, Julian was taking advantage of the delay to shoot down one of the striped jailbird Shadows, but then took a surprise blast of pale blue gas to the face from another, falling down on the floor and snoozing loudly about chicken.

She saw another new type emerge from the crowd then, having held back until its enemies had been weakened by its allies to strike. Likely the pack leader by the way the others were so careful to stay far away from it, it looked like a gray-skinned, seven foot tall man had been eaten out and almost fully covered by a multicolored coral reef, a cluster of dark green barnacles that almost looked like an exposed brain bulging out of the hole where the creature's face should have been. One entire arm was missing as well, replaced by a hole-covered sponge cluster, but the remaining one was able to convey instructions despite having only three remaining fingers on it.

It was perhaps the most hideous Shadow Aiko could recall seeing in this Land full of hideous Shadows, and possibly the most powerful. Dark red toxin dripped from the three fingers like blood, and even as Mira carefully dodged that the Shadow focused energy to unleash a spiraling torrent of water beneath her- the _Aqua_ skill taken up to the next level, _Aques._

Mira pushed up off the spout, using the extra height to unleash Mazio on the crowd around them. It was joined shortly by Aiko's own Malaqua, the combined spell frying most of the closest enemy but doing little to the coral-encrusted humanoid. In response, the head barnacle opened up ever so slightly, the cracks running through it widening just enough so that something tiny and too fast to see could swarm out and hit the entire team from a dozen directions at once.

Not exactly hurt but extremely disoriented, Aiko felt another headless knight grabbing her sword arm, hauling her down so that the coral man could stick a nail into her. She had just enough time to hear Mira cry out in denial when a buffeting sensation threw the enemy back to a safe distance.

Recovering from the dizziness, she stared, expecting to see the towering spire turret which had defeated Julian's Shadow.

What she saw instead looked to be made of the same material and color as that form and the more common ship, but it was clearly neither of those. Instead, four gleaming metal wheels lay positioned around a curvy, sleek hot rod design, a familiar beaked face protecting a loudly revving motor at the front and two rows of cushioned seats behind it.

The car spoke with Pelagio's voice, though still tinged by fear. "Hurry, climb in! Bring Gunslinger!"

Grabbing Jiachi's soundly sleeping body and getting it into the seat along with the rest gave the enemy time to regroup, the surviving Shadows becoming a lethal pack under the tall coral man's unheard direction. Or perhaps they all were smart enough to be that organized without a leader.

Whatever the case, that organization fell apart as soon as Pelagio's silvery front grill smashed into them at just over seventy miles per hour, bowling the ranks of warped creatures aside and ignoring the sharp stings of lightning skills and psychokinetic blasts that resulted. As they made a screeching sharp turn around the leader that pressed Aiko into the driver door, she felt the pressure ease up on her chest as they spun back, running a pair the of floating jailbirds down before accelerating towards a brick railing.

"Y-you...", she managed to stammer at last without biting her tongue, "you're a car now?!"

"Yes. Apparently so", Pelagio's voice replied from all around them. "Please buckle up and hold on, captain. This will be rather dangerous."

Realizing too late what exactly he meant by that, she gripped the front wheel and screamed along with Mira as the car flew up and over the railing, gliding for what felt like several feet before gravity caught up to them.

* * *

Benihime Kujou knew that something was wrong with her boyfriend before his mouth opened.

For one, Kohru Tatsunoko was acting even more stiff and formal than he usually did around her. Considering what he was normally like, this was a feat worth noticing. For two, he'd asked them to meet in the abandoned storage shack at the school's unfinished pool after class.

Of course, she had other plans, insisting that they could meet in the student disciplinary council room in complete privacy, and as usual he cooperated.

That was one of many things that she loved about him. He didn't waste time trying to second-guess her. He already knew that her decisions were almost always the best ones, and even if he wanted to argue with her he wouldn't be so tactless as to do it in front of other students or, worse, teachers. To everyone else, they were a united front, and Tatsunoko knew the importance of that appearance well enough to place an emphasis on privacy.

As promised, they were alone. Everyone else had already gone home for the day, and yet the athletic flat-haired boy looked rarely pensive to be there, dark brown eyes scanning the shelves as if he expected listening devices.

 _Well, we do record the minutes of each meeting after all,_ she acknowledged with an amused smile. Just like when Kohru would record journal entries on the small microphone device he carried around on his belt, leaving little to memory wherever he could help it.

Yet, he showed no desire to have this recorded. Just the opposite. Intriguing. She sat back in her seat- the chairman's seat, naturally- and enjoyed simply admiring Tatsunoko's angular face and good looks.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Kujou-san. Thank you for coming out to meet me here. I'm sure you must be busy."

She giggled sharply, still entertained by his over-formality after all this time. "I'd gladly put aside anything to make time for you, Tatsu-kun."

After all, her own personal enjoyment of being with such a capable senior student was just the icing. The cake was watching and hearing and _feeling_ the jealousy of the other girl students that resulted when they were together. They wanted him so badly they couldn't even hide it, but they knew who he was with. Even if the stalwart Tatsunoko seemed like the type to be swayed so easily by some clueless first-year, her own hard-earned reputation guaranteed no one would mess with him... Because that would mean messing with _her._

Hearing none of these thoughts, Tatsunoko blinked slowly, his face grave.

"I've been thinking a lot about some things I've been hearing about over the last two months, as well as last year."

"Listening to rumors in the halls?" She sounded pleasantly surprised, hardly offended. "That's unusual for you, isn't it?"

Tatsunoko nodded in acceptance. "True. I'm not normally one for idle rumors. Too much else going on, too many things to plan, such as the summer trip and the Marine Day festival. You know me. The question on my mind right now... is if I really know you."

"Tatsu-kun?" She couldn't keep the worry out of her voice any longer.

Throwing up his hands on the desk as if admitting defeat, he shook his head sorrowfully. "Most rumors are just speculation and imagination, it's true. However, all rumors spring from either a desire, or a kernel of truth." Raising his head, he stared into her, probing, desperately trying to find something. "And unlike most people, once I heard a certain rumor enough times, I decided to fact-check it."

"I thought you just said you've been busy with school events", she pointed out.

"I have. Gathering the right information, interviewing students... it's taken me a long time in between classes and getting everything else done."

"W-what are you talking about, Tatsu-kun?"

With a noticeable effort to keep his face and posture dispassionate, he reached down, lifting his trusty microphone device onto the table. She had no idea where he had originally gotten that from, only that it was perhaps the only device used by students that wasn't internet-compatible. A relic of a forgotten age, and the thick metal covering only reinforced that notion.

"You need to stop this, Kujou-san. Now."

She didn't dare reply. Anything she might have guessed would merely come across as admission of guilt.

Sighing, he pressed a button on his device, letting another voice, a subdued girl's voice, speak for him. _"My notes were completely soaked through. Someone poured water into my locker between classes... and then they wrote some awful things on it."_

Click.

" _-Can't ask for help any more on the online forums, I just get mocked, called names. I think it's because I'm a gai-"_

Click.

" _I overheard them at lunchtime. They were going to tape someone's dorm door shut, synchronizing their alarms so they could do it fast while someone distracted Ekuya-san. I wanted to tell them not to, but..."_

Click.

" _Horrible. Everyone was just laughing at that poor girl. I tried stopping her the last time she did that, and I got two month's detention."_

Click.

" _I'm scared whenever they're around. This isn't discipline. This is torment."_

Click.

Stopping the device, he looked into her again, his wide eyes imploring for an answer. Any answer.

"I... I know we're not popular", she tried patiently. "We're the disciplinary committee, of course we're not popular. And we can't stop every incident either. There's not enough of us, and several of my best people quit recently. That just goes to show how bad the chaos in this school gets with all the _gaijin_ around."

Wrong answer. She knew that as soon as his face darkened and his eyes narrowed.

"Then you'd be very interested to know that 7 out of 10 of the students who confessed to me are those ' _gaijin_ ' you mention with such disdain."

Who was in those recordings? She racked her brain, trying to identify the individual voices she'd just heard by their tone and type. Once she figured out who they were, they would all be punished. Severely.

"Of _course_ they'd lie about it", she said anxiously. "They'd do anything they can to slander us for keeping them in line. They want a school where they're free to run wild, and my friends and I are the only thing standing in the way of that. Can't you see, Tatsu-kun?"

Far from being taken by the appeal, he seemed frozen for a moment, looking down at his microphone. "I...I don't know if I can. I'm surrounded by liars either way. However... one of those witnesses was Hirabayashi-san."

The name brought a familiar image into sight immediately. A svelte, ponytailed girl in second year with heavy-lidded eyes and a thin neck. One with seemingly boundless energy despite her frame.

"So?"

"Hirabayashi-san has worked with me on over a dozen events for the school", he said. "I've known her for years, and I trust her just as much as you."

 _Bitch._ The word thundered through her head, threatening to burst out. Hirabayashi would pay dearly for betraying her. Ponytails were so easy to stick into things that proved highly distressing for the person attached to them. Pencil sharpeners, locker grilles, urinal valves... _Trying to drive Tatsu-kun away from me by spreading wicked lies and getting other students to back her up, associating with Gaijin._

If this wasn't punished, the universe itself might cry out from the injustice.

"I'm sure that Hirabayashi-san was mistaken", she replied as sweetly as could be managed.

"Possibly", he acknowledged. "But when her words line up with so many others, I would be remiss in my duties not to pay attention to them. That's the purpose of having a student council, Kujou-san. To address issues that our student body has that prevent them from being comfortable here as Koashimizu, and help set up events they might enjoy. _Not_ to harass students that you don't like."

Benihime's arm burned and a hollow feeling settled into the pit of her stomach that she didn't like at all. "So it's my fault then, that all the troublesome students who disrupt this academy's harmony just so happen to be _gaijin_?"

Looking sympathetic for a moment, Tatsunoko shrugged. "That would not be your fault. But the most alarming story I heard wasn't about them. This came from Sonoka-san."

 _Sonoka._ Another betrayal. Just like Fushima. Yet another person she'd thought understood her, who she had thought was her friend, who had chosen to betray both her and the school.

Sonoka and Fushima had to be punished for their crimes as well.

Composing herself once again, she stared back. "So what did Sonoka-san lie to you about?"

Kohru began to reach for his device, then thought better of it, pain taking hold of his face and replacing his sympathy. "This happened in the first week of school. You accused a first-year student of stuffing her bra and ordered some of the other members to forcibly remove 'tissues'."

And now the scar on her arm was overheating, breaking into open flame until she couldn't look back at him any more, moving her unblemished arm to clutch the scarred one. "That", she whispered, " _wasn't_ a first-year student. You know who that was."

Having been around her long enough, Kohru sighed. "Of course. The one I'm told you've been obsessing over endlessly. Though it's true that she might look a bit older than some her own age, Aiko Tsuruga _is,_ in fact a first-year student of this academy."

"Aiko Tsuruga is an animal, Tastu-kun. She is a violent, wild, disgusting, promiscuous girl who has no place in _any_ respectable school in all of Japan, never mind Koashimizu."

Pulling back, she grabbed her sleeve and revealed the scar tissue to him. It had healed long ago, but there was a mark there that she believed might last forever. "She did this to me", she reminded Kohru. "And her only punishment was three days of detention!"

Kohru looked thoughtful. "I've heard some things about her. She helped bring back the fencing club. I can appreciate that."

"As I said: violent. I wouldn't be surprised if she was abusing the other students there."

Kohru didn't seem surprised by the accusation. "You don't trust Umaeda-sensei?"

"Umaeda-sensei is old", she explained. "Hiding that from him would be easy."

"So what you're saying is you don't trust him." Kohru frowned. "There is another story about Tsuruga-chan that I heard about when I was looking around. Something else she brought back. Someone."

Blankly, she nodded. "Sorano." She'd heard that story as well, to her annoyance. Naturally, instead of just leaving the campus and the country like she should have, Mirambela Sorano had run away, casting the blame for her problems on the school. A blight on decent civilized people to the very end... and thanks to _Tsuruga_ , it wasn't the end after all. Sorano had returned to plague them further after a few weeks.

"Just imagine", Kohru demanded of her. "How much bad publicity this academy would get if Sorano had actually gone the same way as Furusato-san, or died some other way. More importantly, an innocent girl was prevented from throwing her life away, or doing something else she would regret. I think, if the stories are true, we owe Tsuruga-san a favor."

Her scar felt like an inferno, every word Kohru said ramping up the heat until it was in her face and chest as well. "More lies", she rasped. "Sorano just wanted to cause problems for the school, making herself look like a victim."

"Possible", Kohru admitted soberly. "In a world so filled with deceptions, it's so difficult to tell what is the real truth. However..." Withdrawing his microphone, he shook his head pityingly at her. "I'm sorry Kujou-san, but the evidence is overwhelming. I will be putting forth a motion at the next student council meeting to have you removed from your position."

The heat... It surged into a crescendo before dropping into a numb chill from head to toe. "N-no... You can't do that!"

His brow shot up, looking more curious than mournful. "No? The rules are quite clear about this. Any student council member can put a motion forward if they feel any other member is having a negative effect on the student body. I've already shared what I found with the others- in private, just as we have done here. If a 70 percent majority is reached, then..."

He was too far across the table to touch, so her arm ended up being stuck halfway, desperately grasping for him. "Tatsu-kun, please. Don't do this."

He reached out and took her offered arm, making her think for a moment that he might do as she asked. "I didn't want to. I would have preferred it if we could have just stayed as we were. But if all this is true, then..." Acute, crushing pain clouded his gaze. "Then maybe you're not the type of person I want to be a couple with, Kujou-san. I'm sorry."

The vacant chill slowed everything down, leaving her hands feeling like ice. "I... I-I-I have...! I... have to...!"

It was all she could muster before stumbling out of the room, into the deserted hall. The dorms were too far away. She would never make it. Instead, the entrance to the 2nd floor restroom opened invitingly to her, and blissfully, no one was there.

No one to hear her throat let out a withered scream that she had never thought herself capable of making before. Normally, even when furious, she was much more composed than that, just as she had been taught.

Of course, normal was the farthest adjective from this situation. " _Tsuruga_ ", she snarled the name like the vilest of curses.

Tsuruga was the cause of all of this, she knew. Tsuruga was a demon, a devil disguised as a human brought into this world to torment her, to frustrate her again and again with her ability to anticipate any attempt to put her in her proper place. Each failed try had only weakened the rest of the SDC's confidence in her.

They were so damned _blind._ They couldn't see how damaging letting Tsuruga off the hook was for all of their reputations. What good was a disciplinary committee who couldn't discipline one errant student?

It was Tsuruga who had caused her friends, Sonoka and Fushima, to betray her, to betray the cause of the committee she'd devoted years of her time to. Meanwhile, disruptive students like Vitienne and Sorano and Rosea were allowed to do whatever they pleased.

Catching the brief glimpse of a mirror, Kujou realized that she was actually _shaking_. Too much anger. Too much injustice.

"She is a bitch." The words she'd long since become accustomed to concealing like weapons began to tumble out, now that she was too incensed to hold them back, private thoughts becoming realized words for the first time. "Tsuruga is a skank. She is the worst kind of ugly, rancid, used-up whore."

A while later, after she'd vented a few more things that would hopefully remain between her and the mirrors, she felt like she could think clearly again. The rage was still there of course, acid burning a hole in her gut, but alongside it was genuine sorrow.

Hirabayashi betrayed her. Sonoka betrayed her. Fushima betrayed her. And now, Tastunoko betrayed her. Even Hayato, who had once been her closest friend, had been slacking in her duties no matter how many times she was threatened to straighten up.

The SDC had no spine left after repeated setbacks. They would vote against her, or at least enough of them would. There was only one person left that she could really trust.

 _Daddy._ She let a soft, mournful laugh escape. Whenever she felt alone, she could always think about her father, and how he would handle the situation.

While they had grown apart in the last few years due to his demanding work and her maturing, he would always remain an inspiration, a beacon of light in the darkness. It was that inspiration now which got her out of the restroom and back to the dorm, where she could safely collapse into her bed.

Daisuke Kujou wasn't merely a good provider for his dutiful daughter, and not merely a classy businessman. He was a true patriot, one of the key spokesmen for JCAP, and possessed of oratory skills to match. He'd been working at repairing Japan's sacred harmony for years now, always putting a good percentage of his paychecks towards helping other native citizens get the word out.

Before long, they found that the contributions from those same citizens flowed back the other way too. But Daisuke would never be so greedy as to take advantage of such fortune, never use money that was donated with a singe purpose in mind for his family's own expenses.

And it was he who taught her why harmony- be it in a country or an organization or school- was so very important.

 _Many years ago, long before you were born, we were blessed,_ he told her. _People understood that we were an island adrift in a sea of barbarism, but we had something they didn't. Harmony. A collective understanding that unity of action is what allows our country to survive and prosper while others fall apart. The ability to put aside oneself for the good of the many._

 _The gaijin threaten that harmony. They seek to corrupt our beautiful country into their own. They are the reason so many of our own people struggle to find employment._

 _They are the reason your mother is dead._

Once, he'd even gone so far as to demonstrate to her using two types of beans during lunch, trying to illustrate how much a schism might cripple a nation, and how the infiltration of other bean types could weaken it even further until the entire enterprise collapsed from the rot.

Of course, he'd brought these ideas across much more forcefully in his public speeches, which she always enjoyed watching and wished she was given the chance to do the same in front of the school. A pity that her own skills in that field were so inferior to her father's, no matter how much she tried to fix that.

Still, she'd tried. She'd had some success too. Punishing the _gaijin_ for their insolence,making their lives difficult, meant that all except the slow-witted of their number would understand that they weren't wanted, and go back to whatever hole they had come from. Over a dozen students had learned this lesson and returned home. These were accomplishments she could be proud of.

Until now. Now she was going to be stripped of her power to do that. Word would get out that the SDC had gone soft without her, and the _gaijin_ would wreak havoc on the academy's reputation. They would lose their funding and in time, principal Yumika would have no choice but to close everything down.

Then the plague would spread and infect other schools in Japan, and the cycle would begin anew.

All because of Aiko Tsuruga.

At some point, she found herself out of the washroom, out of the main building, and entering her dorm. The door to Tsuruga and Sorano's room was closed and locked, making her breathe a sigh that she wasn't sure was relief or just more aggravation given form. She couldn't tell for sure now if she might have had the fortitude to go in there and give those two a piece of her mind.

Instead, she settled for repeatedly hammering the door. When it didn't open, she started speaking again in hushed tones.

"You think that you're special", she snarled, crying into the motionless wood, her hands slamming the door and neither refusing to break or feel pain. "You think you're some kind of pretty unicorn." Wham. "Some kind of gaijin savior." Wham.

"You're **not**."

Wham.

"I'll make everyone see-"

Wham.

"-what a bitch-"

 _Wham._

"-you really are."

It struck her then that it would have been very embarrassing if someone had actually been behind that door, but there was no sign of life. The sliver of open space beneath the door remained dark.

It was getting late, she knew. Just a few hours away from curfew. She briefly entertained the idea of waiting here for them to return until a familiar dark hime cut framing a hook-nosed face appeared from around the corner.

"Ekuya-senpai", Benihime nodded to their dorm head, immediately trying to look innocent.

The older girl set her lips and regarded her with a glare of annoyance, already quite familiar with her reputation and some of the things she had done to earn it. She also would never forget the time last year when Benihime had tried to have her removed from the position.

"Are you lost?", she asked in mock innocence. "Forgot your key, Kujou-san? Or did you so desperately need to speak with Tsuruga or Sorano that you would hammer on their door while others are trying to study?"

Apparently, sound carried further down the dorm halls than she'd thought. _Bitch. How dare you question me when the school's sacred discipline and harmony is failing before your eyes and no one but me is doing a damn thing about it._

Of course, she couldn't say that. That would earn her detention, at the very least. Instead she managed a nervous smile back, a polite burst of light laughter.

"O-of course. Sorry about that, Ekuya-senpai. I've just been having a difficult day and I forgot which dorm room was mine for a moment." On a single thin finger, she raised up her room key, attached to the chain in her bag. "See? It doesn't work for this one, 'cause I forgot."

Looking unconvinced, Ekuya snorted and pointed down the hall. "Ground floor, 2nd room on the right."

Considering how grouchy their dorm head was normally, that was a blessing. Benihime waited until she was safely in her own dorm room before entertaining fantasies of having Ekuya fired, disgraced, tortured... _She just hates everyone because her boyfriend left her and is never coming back to look at her ugly hatchet face._

Her father could make this right. He could fix it all. He could come in and make one of his famous speeches, get all these traitors punished as they should be. Get Aiko Tsuruga thrown back to Tokyo and placed where she belonged, in a Shibuya pleasure den.

But that wasn't _his_ responsibility. It was hers. Her father had quite enough on his plate trying to wake the rest of Japan up to the insidious dangers they were ignoring, the dangers that even prime minister Tamagami wasn't doing enough to stop.

"Daddy", she mumbled into the bed, suddenly feeling helpless and weak. "What can I do?"

* * *

Powerfully shining lights made it difficult to open her eyes for long, but they had to be opened. Feeling her way out of whatever tangle they had fallen into was a losing proposition when time was their enemy.

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any Shadows nearby at first. Just a morose, binary-lit alley stretching off in both directions framed by the same enormous buildings as before. Far, far overhead she could see the silhouette of a zeppelin, but it didn't seem to be directly interested in them just yet.

Grunting, Aiko hauled herself up, noting how Julian was lying down as well in a manner that suggested he had been forcibly sleeping until just now, Mirambela at his side trying to fix that. Pelagio, meanwhile, had remained on guard and alert in his armored form, though none of them looked completely ready for another fight after the disaster they'd just barely escaped from.

"You're up", Mira noted in relief. "Good. Now we can start to find a way out of here."

"No objections here", their captain agreed groggily. The memory of the fight was coming back now, and it wasn't a fond one. "They were strong."

"Yes", Pelagio agreed, hesitant to retreat from any battle but not willing to risk the lives of the ones he had sworn to protect. "Hmph. Perhaps we became overconfident, defeating so many weaker Shadows in other islands up to this point."

Standing, even Jiachi looked somewhat miffed. "That was crazy. Never seen Shadows coordinate like that, or charge in such a big swarm."

"Or be so durable", Aiko seconded. "It's fine. Shadows are always the toughest to fight the first time we meet them, 'cause we don't know their abilities and weaknesses, or just how much punishment they can take. Now we do."

Mira looked uncertain though as she helped Jiachi up from his enforced nap. "I don't know... I feel like they were definitely feeling pain when we hit them. It was more like... they didn't care. Catching us was more important to them than any pain we caused them."

"Because we're 'criminals'", Aiko mused in quiet mockery. "Criminals, huh... Guess we look the part."

"Because we defy the ruler's will", Pelagio pointed out. "Assuming our plan is not to submit and take on the values the ruler of this Land desires, we should prepare for further battles ahead."

"The ruler", Aiko noted, "who we don't know yet. We don't even know what 'values' they're pushing here. Unless it's wearing those ridiculous bondage outfits and hanging down from zeppelins."

Already anticipating what she was thinking, Mira shook her head. "Plenty of time for us to find all that out later, Saber. For now, we need to get out."

Sensing their leader's acknowledgment, Pelagio bowed. "I sense a Breach nearby. Down this street and behind the frivolously-decorated house."

"Frivolously...?", Julian muttered curiously. Sure enough, the large building Pelagio had spoken of was clearly the exterior of some kind of carnival or fun house, garish porcelain faces stretched into varying expressions, and framed by rows of blinking lights stymied by the rigidity of the setting's colors. A light ditty of fairground music played over it, though in this context it was more sinister than uplifting.

"Please tell me we don't have to go in there", Mira pleaded from the rear, shivering at the sight of it.

"We don't have to go in there", Pelagio replied. "That was painless, wasn't it? No, it's just past here, through that archway."

The archway in question looked to be built into the base of one of the largest buildings, colossal stone bricks arranged around a circular opening leading beneath the structure.

"And past _them_ ", Aiko sighed.

The archway was not empty or clean as the rest of the city. Strands of some thick organic substance trickled down from the top of the arch, and from two of them hung a pair of beings that could only be Shadows.

Through the faded green-skinned figures had humanoid tops, they wound up being far larger due to their bottoms belonging to some kind of enormous spider, each lying suspended upside down on lines of silk. Though they hadn't moved initially, the sudden noises made from legs skittering along the lines made it clear they were very much aware of their visitors, two passably human female heads turning around to behold the team and stretch their lips into expressions of feral pleasure.

"The criminals", one hissed in delight, a bowl cut of hair failing to obscure a mad glow in her eyes.

"Don't eat them", the other suggested in an equally sinuous cadence. "Catch them. Mistress Kaneshiro will punish us as reward."

Wasting no time, Jiachi drew his weapons with his customary speed and fired on both of the strands of silk. "Only two", he remarked. "Bring 'em down fast! AGI!"

They didn't even bother with the support skills this time. The enemy was temporarily thrown off by being suddenly dislodged from their spots and falling down to hit the ground, and Pelagio pounced with his sword before unleashing the Frei skill. On the other side, Mira struck with both daggers and lightning, backing off only when the latter failed to do damage.

Focusing on that one, Aiko reached up, calling on Lilim's power. "Dancer, get back! _Agi!_ "

Easily recognizing the skill name by now, Mira leaped back from the thrashing demi-spider's legs, preparing for a blast of heat-

Which didn't come. Momentarily shocked, Aiko tightened her glove and focused again. "Agi!"

Nothing.

"Agi! AGI!"

Seeing the spider's legs twitching back to life, she stared at the specter of Lilim expecting some kind of answer, but the winged Persona offered none. Then the spider Shadow was back up and using its own skill without any problems. She recognized it as the inverse of Pelagio's Rakukaja technique, increasing the vulnerability of its target to all other forms of attack and making her skin itch as if the air itself was suddenly more potent than before.

 _What the hell? Why isn't it working? I'm not being sealed or anything._

Luckily, she wasn't alone. Her team continued the battle, bombarding the enemy with bullets and blasts, Mira finally deciding to perform her own improvised tactic, fusing her wind skill with Julian's fire skill to create the scorching maelstrom from before, burning both the insectoids alive and making the more injured of the two crumble to ash.

"Jack Frost!", she called out in desperation, switching the winged demon girl out for the familiar cute white and blue fairy. _"Bufu!"_

There was a shift, a brief sensation of the air around them lowering in temperature... but the enemy gave no sign of being hit by the usual ice she expected that skill to bring out. Cackling madly, the spider-woman gave a fanged grin and fired a spray of razor-tipped darts from her thorax only to be intercepted by Pelagio's shield skill.

"Bufu! Bufu! Pretty please, BUFU!"

Nothing. Always nothing. Jack Frost itself looked transparent, like a true ghost. Giving up with a cry of frustration, Aiko instead brought her cutlass down on the creature's head, cutting into the arm it chose to block with and giving Mira all the opening she needs to finish the creature off with her daggers and functional Persona.

It felt like she couldn't even see the Shadow fall, or the cobblestone entryway beyond. There were no Shadows left to attack, but she turned away, changing to multi-headed Dantalian and directing its psychokinetic power into a poster-covered wall.

" _Psi!"_

Nothing. The posters weren't even ruffled. She felt Mira's arm taking hers, trying to calm her down from what might have looked like her friend jumping at Shadows to them.

"Saber, it's alright. We beat them. It's alright."

But it wasn't alright. She looked back at Mira's gold eye mask as if frightened by a stranger, then back down at empty white gloves. "No... I don't understand. What is this? What happened? Why aren't my Personas working? They were a little weak last time, but this..."

"Probably just exhaustion", Jiachi suggested, though even his normally energetic voice sounded subdued with fright. "Like Dancer said, we've been fighting for a long while now. Gotta go back and rest up. I'm feeling kinda drained myself."

"I think we all are", Mira affirmed, pulling on Ai's arm. "Come on captain, let's go before more Shadows show up."

"Exhaustion", she repeated, continuing stare at her hands. "Exhaustion. Right." _Right. That makes sense. I'm just tired. Mentally drained after all the fighting. I just need to rest up back home._

 _Yes. That's right. No problem._

It was comforting enough lie to get her walking to the breach that would get them to safety.

* * *

Enemy Profile #11: Arachne

Arcana: Hanged Man

Strength: Wind, Nuclear

Weakness: Gun

Abilities: Toxic Sting, Rakunda, Tera

Background: A spinstress from Greek myth who wove beautiful tapestries. They were so beautiful, she claimed that she was better than the goddess Pallas Athena. Angered by this, the goddess of wisdom challenged her to a spinning duel.

In some interpretations of the myth, Arachne defeated Athena. In others, Athena proved the superiority of the gods to man, and Arachne hung herself in distress. Whichever the case, Athena changed the poor girl into a spider so that she may weave forever, and because of this myth, all members of the spider family are called arachnids.

* * *

A/N: Saw some interesting April Fools stuff this week, like a fake trailer for Final Fantasy 16 and a Dancing All Night for Persona 2 XD

The Chapter title is still a song from the SMT series. It's from Digital Devil Saga 2.


	36. Aria of the Soul

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Can You Recall The Names_

 _That Allow You To Stand Up?_

* * *

6/12 Wednesday

Night

Aiko knew she couldn't lie to the grinning, shaven-skulled man at the other end of the table, his nose drooping down and nearly touching it. So she didn't even try.

She could only hope the same courtesy was reciprocated.

"What happened?", she asked him, no longer able or needing to conceal the fear coating her voice as the Velvet ship continued to rock in the waves' grip. "Why did my Personas suddenly stop working? It's _not_ just because I was tired. I've been tired before. This was different."

Not for the first time, Igor's wide smile came across as aggravatingly nonchalant to her. Tragedy, triumph, comedy, horror... it was all the same in his eyes, it seemed.

"It falls to you to overcome such obstacles as this, dream voyager. Particularly, those which lie buried within oneself. I am but your guide in this journey. An observer anxious to see if you can continue along your charted course."

She stared back at him, for that was still a more welcome sight than the way her hands were shaking. "So in other words, you can't help me. Great. Thanks so much."

Her impudent tone earned her one equally as dismissive from the other occupant of the ship, Bartholomew stepping out from behind one of the cages he'd been working on and frowning in a way that made his eye patch grow taut against his eye socket. "Pah! With that attitude, you'll never figure it out."

Though intended as an insult, it was enough to cease the sensation of something hot and fluid coursing through her veins and burning her skin. "...I'm sorry. I know that was the reason why, I mean, the reason Nijima..."

The blue-clad attendant gave a polite chuckle, his bright sandy hair swaying in a breeze Aiko knew only existed in her sleeping mind. "You truly are a strange captain, dream voyager. You show such kindness to some in need of it, and yet you demonstrate such overpowering rage towards others."

Her lips pressed together. "I show people what they deserve from me. But you're right... I'm scared. Scared that I might lose my powers for good, and that made me lash out at you when you had nothing to do with it. So, um, sorry."

"At any rate", Igor provided more calmly, "to solve your quandary, you must first consider the source of your powers, and what has changed about the nature of that source."

Aiko saw then that Igor had the blue tarot cards arranged on his table again, and accepted his invitation to sit down in the chair and observe them more closely. Some of the Tarot suits there were familiar from the last few times, but many others were brand new.

The proud lion card, the one she knew represented the Strength Arcana, had a number of other cards stacked beneath it in a line traveling back towards Igor's seat.

"Your sworn protector", he reminded her. "Yet, to confine oneself to that role alone is to remain less than human. Whether it was his desire or not, he has begun to expand his mind, his awareness of matters outside of his chosen duties."

The observation jarred loose an old dusty memory, and Aiko risked staring directly into her stooped host's bloodshot eyes for a moment. "Pelagio. That's right. He's not yours, is he? He's not like Morgana?"

"No", he said. "The dutiful knight is no creation of mine, nor that of my master. Not truly human, and yet possessing that same marvelous potential to expand and change one's perspective based on observation and knowledge. We shall continue to watch that one's progress with great interest."

The Chariot, too, had a fair number of cards already stacked beneath it, making it stand out prominently on the table. "Umaeda-sensei likes me", she acknowledged, less enthusiastically than the words might imply. "He said that I was his top student... but does that include the students he had before he became a teacher at Koashimizu?"

"The sword master. He is fascinated by your gift", Bartholomew pointed out calmly. "Yet, he struggles against a furtive desire to use you to chase down a long-forgotten dream. It remains your decision if you are interested in pursuing that dream as well."

The Devil card was perhaps the biggest surprise, having a single card beneath it despite her struggling to even identify the Tarot last time. This time, however, she knew better. She'd seen enough of the others to know where a 'Devil' would fit in this strange pantheon of people she knew.

" _Kujou_ ", she spat without needing to confirm. "She's tried to break me at every turn. When she finally figures out that she can't do that, that I won't be broken by her... what's left for her then?"

"She is your enemy. Yet, you almost sound as if you pity her", Bartholomew noted in frank surprise.

"A little", Aiko confessed to her own surprise as much as anyone else's. "She's still a queen bitch, yeah. But I know that her dad, Daisuke, is a big shot in JCAP, and Hayato-senpai told me that her mother is dead. Of course he would pass on his beliefs to her. I have no idea how she might have been treated whenever she tried to think for herself, but I doubt it would have been anything good."

"The sins of the father passed on to the daughter", Igor's lament sounded oddly genuine, shaking his round head. "Such a sad state of affairs. Yet, perhaps time still remains for that one to decide and forge a new path, separate from the one forced upon her by fate."

"I wouldn't hold my breath for that", Aiko remarked. Still, her eyes seemed to have some difficulty leaving the card, and her consideration of Benihime Kujou, behind.

The Temperance Arcana hadn't changed much either, also bearing just one card beneath it to indicate a relative lack of growth compared to the others.

"Ishinagi-sensei", she remembered. "I mean, I've been going to the sessions even with everything else that's been going on. He just seems to want to make sure my 'attack' on Kujou was a one... time..." Pausing as her eyes widened in alarm, she turned back to Bartholomew.

"Wait. Is that it? Is that why?"

Shrugging in mock confusion, the attendant studied their guest in return, a harsh smile that annoyed her more than it soothed. "Sorry, you've have to be more specific. Is _what_ why?"

Eyes shut, her words came out at a cautious, glacial pace. "Is the anger I feel sometimes the reason why my Personas stopped working?"

Looking disappointed initially, Bartholomew smoothed out his own features before shaking his head. "A good guess. However, remember that anger is just as much a part of the subconscious world as any other emotion. And as we've discussed previously, your masks don't exactly originate from recorded saints. Anne Bonny, Lorelei, Lilim, Bilwis, Dantalian..."

"Jack Frost", she cut his list off, summoning the Persona with her words as well. This time, the cute, short-fanged white fairy was completely solid, showing no signs of the fading she'd experienced previously. Overjoyed to think that the earlier experience might have been a one-time crisis only, Aiko went a step further, testing the Bufu skill on a nearby wall to make absolutely sure her powers had returned, causing the Persona to belt out a 'hee-ho' of triumph.

"That's going to melt onto the carpet in a few hours", Bartholomew complained of the resulting sheet of ice, though he sounded too exuberant to be actually upset by it. Instead he turned back, his single yellow eye boring into her two anxious greens.

"This does not solve your dilemma. To solve it, you must first deduce the source of it."

"And you can't just tell me the answer", she guessed irritably. "Because that would spoil your fun, right?"

The attendant scowled back. "This is not a _game_ , dream voyager. Not to us. To simply tell you the answer would be to forever place the remedy out of your reach. I am not so recalcitrant as my master. If I thought it would help you, I would gladly tell you."

"A secret I can't be told", she echoed, flashing back to her talk with Shukiji. "I have to learn it. Great. Like I don't have enough stuff to deal with right now."

Igor chuckled at the energy in their arguments, calling her attention back to the rest of the Arcana arrayed on his table. The Sun card representing her mother, Kogaya, hadn't developed much, but other cards, new ones which hadn't been on the table before, loomed large.

One card depicted a lithe figure in silk robes of blue and white, an owl mask hiding features Ai guessed to be feminine, not the least of reasons because of the large number of cards already under it. "Reminds me of... Mira-chan."

"The Priestess Arcana", Igor explained. "A loyal voice of unforced support, and often, wisdom."

"That does describe her pretty well", she nodded back. "It's not like she's trying to be a wet blanket when it comes to us going to Faraway Lands. She's just not as confident as me and Julian are. Or maybe _we're_ the ones who are too cocky, and she's the voice of reason?"

"The same person does not always speak wisdom in every situation", Bartholomew said neutrally. "You know that. Even the wisest of souls can still behave foolishly at times."

Holding back a roll of her eyes that felt as if it would be entirely out of place here, Aiko sighed. "That's the truth if ever I heard it. I don't see any cards here that remind me of Niyoga. Is that because...?"

"That one has yet to open up his heart to you", Igor offered, though unable to keep a note of pride at how quickly their guest was learning the ways of the Arcana out of his voice entirely. "As is the case with all others in his life. Such is the sickness of arrogance. He remains closed off from all other souls, considering them to be beneath him. Even the kind-hearted one whom he once called his friend, he has now cast away in anger."

"Vitienne-kun", Aiko noted, easily remembering her earlier resolve. "Honestly, it's hard to picture those two ever being friends, never mind besties. Vitienne-kun is always so into fantasy and faith in God, while Niyoga only believes in hard facts that he's tested himself. Hm... Maybe Furusato-san was their glue?"

When neither of them had anything to say about that, her eyes drifted on to the other cards, recognizing another by tarot and the obvious image first before connecting it and the way it made her feel with a name. "Moon... that's Samesaji, right?"

"Your satellite", Igor elaborated. "One who seeks comfort in the aura of power and safety that you project, desiring a secure shield against their own troubles. Yet, gratitude for that sanctuary can all too quickly transform into resentment and a desire for independence."

 _Whenever you're around, Tsuruga-chan, I feel safe. Like nothing bad can happen to me._

 _I wish... I wish I could be interesting like you._

 _Compared to you, I'm the most boring girl in the world._

"I vowed to save her brother", Ai said, trying to stem the onrushing tide of memory. "I promised her. Some day, she'll get her brother back. And 'Prince Taurus' will be gone for good."

"A bold claim", Bartholomew warned her. "Time shall tell if you can see it through to completion."

The next card's imagery took longer to register in her memory, and appeared gruesome once she realized what she was looking at, even more so than the Devil Arcana. "Huh? A hanged... man?"

"A walking paradox", Igor explained. "One who is caught between two lives, two selves, unable to settle on one, and thus remains trapped in a state of eternal contradiction."

Looking at the card again, she almost laughed at the realization. "Okay, well that one's easy at least. It's Jiachi, or Julian." _The boy with two first names and origins who had to accept both as his own... The one who wants me with him, and yet feels ashamed for the strength of those feelings._

Seeing quite a few cards piled under that one helped ease some of her fears. _Wherever Jiachi is going, it's a good place. After the way he stood up to his father at the birthday party, I have to believe that to be true._

Four cards remained on Igor's creaky oak table, and once again she couldn't quite guess the identity of the Judgement Arcana even though it had some cards placed beneath it now. The Magician Arcana, representing Bartholomew, had grown more than she believed possible considering how often the handsome attendant reprimanded her when she was in the Velvet room, perhaps acting on a need to be the hard disciplinarian to Igor's soft, even though their appearances suggested the opposite arrangement would be more natural.

Bartholomew must have sensed something of her appraisal, as he drew closer to her seat with more relaxed smile than his usual. "My goal is not to punish you, dream voyager- you seem to do _that_ quite ably enough on your own. My goal is to advise you, to teach you the ways of Persona Fusion and the proper use of your masks."

"And that", she nodded back, gratefully taking his offered hand, "is something I will always appreciate. We'll do some of that later. There's some others I want to call up from the Compendium for it."

"Glad to see you haven't forgotten about that option", he murmured.

"And after that, I'd like you to come with me to the real world too. You can meet Kurusu!"

For the first time, the young attendant's face actually went pale with genuine fright, his single eye racing about like it was trying to escape. "That", he managed at last, "would not be such a good idea, I'm afraid."

Confused, she studied him closely. "Why not? He's a great guy. I've learned a lot from him. If anything, I'm surprised he isn't represented on this table as well."

"Undoubtedly", Bartholomew agreed anxiously. "However, my own relationship with him in- let us simply call it my 'past life'- was not nearly so sanguine. My name is Bartholomew Roberts now, but I doubt that he would see it that way. It would be best if we waited until he was gone."

Aiko shrugged. "Have it your way." Turning her attention back to the table, she studied the next Arcana depicting a fanciful staff upheld in a robed arm and smiled in triumph. "Father Shigetsu. 'One who interprets sacred mysteries or esoteric principles', right?"

"Correct", Igor acknowledged. "And yet, you seem distraught at his name."

"When I saw what had happened to him", she confessed, eyes lowered down to the table. "It was one thing when he had people with him, but when they abandoned him, thinking that he was crazy when he detected the Shadow emerging... I almost ran the other way. Just so I didn't have to look at him."

"Almost", Bartholomew emphasized at her side. "Which is more that can be said for many other humans who once called him their friend."

"And now", she continued, "he's not only helping us locate black boxes, but he's trying to grow vegetables in the soil around the church. He says he's going to give them to us, that the soil around the building is 'sacred'. I just..." Admitting defeat with her head low, she realized that the reaction she was so ashamed of had nothing to do with Father Shigetsu. Nothing at all.

"Damn it. Life is so... fragile. Every time I see him hobbling around on that cane, it reminds me."

"A living reminder of a truth most humans find unpalatable", the attendant commented. "And yet, that man has chosen to make the most of what little he has left in this life. All because you, dream voyager, chose to stand by him, and aid him. Even when it distressed you to lay eyes upon his weakness, his fragility, you did not allow that to drive you away from him."

Morose now, she stared back at the Hierophant Arcana with new thoughts, shivering in fear. "Because... Because that would have been even worse. Thinking about him living all alone in that place, going hungry and withering away until one day he would just... fall over. Where no one would find him. Unmourned. Sure, Vitienne-kun came back eventually to help too, but I didn't know he would at that time."

The next Arcana depicted an enormous wheel covered by a golden crest bearing an indifferent face, and as with the Judgement, Aiko could not quite grasp who it represented by merely looking at the card or trying to remember someone it reminded her of. However, she was able to deduce the final Arcana on the table that way.

To her sorrow.

The card depicted a skeletal figure, billowing hood and cowl concealing most of it from view as it loomed above the world, bearing a familiar scythe in hand.

The obvious choice was the Reaper, but she knew that was wrong. She'd never spoken to the Reaper. The only relationship they had was that of an eager predator and an unusually cunning and elusive prey. By touching the card, by examining the texture and the memories it brought forth, she was able to peer beneath the surface.

"Death", she whispered bleakly. "This Arcana is _Death_. And yet... it's for Vitienne-kun? Why? Why him?"

Bartholomew remains stolid, unyielding. "As we discussed moments ago, Death is an unsightly thing to bear for most humans. A lingering reminder of mortality that most would prefer to distract themselves from. Thus, its Arcana has been saddled with a negative connotation, forgetting that is not all that Death stands for. Not merely an end, but transformation. New beginnings. Cycles of regeneration and change."

Despite his words, she still stared into the card's dark ink, not comprehending. Thinking that she might not _want_ to comprehend. "Maybe Shigetsu can tell me why."

"Either way, you will learn the reason why", Bartholomew promised her softly. "That, I guarantee."

* * *

6/13 Thursday

Lunch

 _MS: hey everyone_

 _AT: hey, all ok?_

 _MS: we should be asking you that_

 _AT: i'm fine_

 _AT: i feel much better now_

 _AT: almost overslept and missed 1st period actually_

 _MS: that's good to hear_

 _MS: about feeling better i mean, not oversleeping and missing class_

 _MS: still don't think we should resume our 'project' right away_

 _AT: i know_

 _JR: how come?_

 _JR: thought you wanted to finish this fast_

 _AT: but also alive_

 _MS: exactly, that place is super dangerous and huge_

 _MS: need to take it one bit at a time, maybe we go back on the weekend or after Marine Day_

 _JR: aw man x_x_

 _AT: besides, we got what we came for- a name_

 _JR: we did?_

 _AT: yeah heard the Shadows talking about it just before we left_

 _AT: they said 'mistress Kaneshiro'_

 _(Akira Kurusu has joined the chat)_

 _AT: so the ruler is Kaneshiro_

 _AK: Kaneshiro?_

 _JR: hey Kurusu, hows things_

 _AK: Pretty well until I heard somebody say Kaneshiro_

 _AT: ?_

 _AK: Kaneshiro was one the Phantom Thieves' targets._

 _MS: oh right, knew that sounded familiar_

 _MS: wasn't he like a Shibuya mob boss or something?_

 _AT: right, he was a major leader in the Dragon syndicate, wanted to take it over_

 _AK: we didn't know that six years ago, just that he was pushing drugs onto high school kids in Shibuya_

 _JR: but no way that's him_

 _JR: he's in jail_

 _JR: right?_

 _JR: right?_

 _AK: Last time we checked. Would have been a huge story if he'd broken out or been killed in prison._

 _AT: not him then, someone else with the same last name_

 _AT: coincidence_

 _MS: maybe... does he jave family?_

 _MS: *have_

 _AK: Sorry, not sure. He never talked about them._

 _MS: just saying its a pretty big coincidence considering what we saw in that Land_

 _AK: so you did go in, how'd it go?_

 _JR: nasty place_

 _AT: big city, all black and white_

 _AT: but we overheard the ruler is 'mistress Kaneshiro'_

 _AT: so presumably a woman_

 _AK: Keep searching the Land and the ruling Shadow will reveal itself to you. It can't help it. It wants to be seen and reacted to._

 _AK: At least, that's how all the Palace rulers I saw were. They liked watching people from the outside get disgusted by them and their Palaces._

 _MS: not now though_

 _MS: need to rest first_

 _AK: Definitely._

 _AK: Best for you to space out your visits to that place so you have some time to recover._

 _AT: thanks, we will_

 _AK: Also, I wanted to tell you that Nijima woke up yesterday._

 _JR: yessss! Tn_nT_

 _AT: thanks again_

 _AT: is she ok to have visitors?_

 _AK: i think so_

 _AK: Going to go visit her again tonight_

 _AT: if its ok, ill join you_

 _AK: Sounds good._

 _(Akira Kurusu has left the chat)_

 _(Aiko Tsuruga has left the chat)_

 _MS: ...do you think she's ok?_

 _JR: huh?_

 _MS: her Personas stopped working_

 _MS: never seen that gappen before_

 _MS: *happen_

 _JR: she was prolly just tired, we were at it for a while yesterday_

 _MS: ok_

 _MS: still worried though_

 _JR: don't be, i'm sure she's fine_

 _JR: she's tough_

 _MS: ... hope so_

 _JR: don't forget about Yoshida_

 _MS: right, you too with Oori_

 _JR: cyas_

 _(J. Rosea has left the chat)_

* * *

6/13 Thursday

After School

The way Makoto Nijima had to be roused from her sleep when they arrived gave a dispiriting first impression. However, after that she seemed perfectly okay despite still being confined to a thin-railed metal hospital bed most of the time, her red-tinted eyes shining with the same willful, alert intelligence that had drawn Akira to her in the first place six years ago.

He'd known from the start that rehearsing what to say to her was completely pointless. No matter how many times he went over a carefully-planned script in his head, he knew that all of it would fly out the window as soon as he put it into practice. All he could manage to start with was one word of cautious greeting: "Hey."

Of course, Makoto knew just as well as he did just how awkward meetings in hospital rooms really were. The ancient memory of seeing Shiho Suzui in the same position on the bedpan wasn't one that would fade from her mind any time soon. "...Hey. I heard that you've been visiting me. Quite a lot, actually. So. Um... Thank you."

"It was either that, or enjoy the interior of my lovely 2-star motel", he remarked, seeing it as a good sign when she laughed lightly at the joke, placing his hand along the bed rail to touch her arm. "And you'd beat even a 5-star."

Her hands eagerly rose to grasp his, unusually desperate for physical contact after so many days spent in near complete isolation. "Thank you for staying here in Tosashimizu as well. I know that must have been expensive for-"

"Don't worry about it. You're more important."

Smiling, she leaned back into the cushion in relaxation. "It's certainly not how I expected this to go. I wanted you to come and help me convince these kids to stop risking their lives. You were always better at persuading people than me. Instead-"

Seeing the look on Akira's face halted her. "What's wrong?"

For once truly unsure of how to proceed, Akira lowered his glasses to regard her with his true eyes. "Um. Please don't stress out. Tsuruga wants to talk with you as well."

That, at least, came across as a pleasant surprise for her. "She's here too?"

He nodded, turning to the door. "You can come out now, Tsuruga."

Shyly peering out from behind the doorway, Aiko looked more anxious than Makoto had ever seen her, carefully inching her way up to the bedpan as if wary of deadly traps, pale hands clasped at her waist as she bowed in terrified courtesy.

"H-h-hello there, Nijima-san."

The words themselves revealed nothing dangerous. It was the reluctant, timid way she delivered them which made the truth begin to slowly dawn on Makoto. As Akira watched, the welcoming smile on her lips visibly transformed into a much more serious expression and her eyes widened in shock before narrowing in anger.

"...Akira. What has she been doing?"

He was suddenly very, very glad that the staff had disconnected the heart monitor machine from her, considering it unnecessary as she was now safely out of the danger zone. Refusing to crumble under her accusing glare as he sometimes had when they were younger, Akira met it squarely instead. "I told you to try and stay calm."

"I am calm." Makoto's words sounded like the lethal buzz of an electric fence. "Tell me what Tsuruga has been doing."

Aiko could no longer make a sound, and so Akira did. "She and her friends have been trying to reveal the crimes of the Karma club."

Her grip became so tight that he had to withdraw his hand. "I see. Despite the fact that I took away their weapons, and _specifically_ ordered them not to approach the Karma club."

"...Yes."

"And did you try to stop them, Akira?"

"...No. In fact, I've been investigating the club myself with Morgana's help."

That softened her intensity, but only slightly. "Good. Superb. That was what I was hoping for. That you would help _me_ with that. Not that you would encourage _children_ to do it."

There were a number of sharp retorts to that he knew he could have used, but he also knew using them would only make Makoto's stress- and her anger at him- even worse. Instead, he constructed a different approach.

"They're not children, Makoto. None of them are. They're the same age that we were when we-"

Her acid glower saved him from accidentally uttering a potentially fatal name, though he didn't exactly feel lucky for it.

"And that's why I was hoping you would get therm to stop. Because I thought that you, more than anyone else, understood that what we did six years ago _wasn't_ normal. At all. We almost _died_ , Akira. We came close so many times I can't even count. _And now you're encouraging these kids to do the same thing?!_ "

Once again he wanted to yell at her what else he could have been expected to do, but he held it in. He wouldn't forget where they were, or where she was.

"...We shouldn't talk about this now. It's definitely stressing you out. It's stressing _me_ out."

Makoto sighed, leaning back down, eyes closed. "...Agreed. The faster I can recover, the better. I'm sorry. You just surprised me, that's all."

Glad to be past the worst of the trial that he'd known had to happen, he smiled back. "That _was_ my forte once, if you recall. We'll talk some more once you're up and walking again."

"Yes", she echoed darkly. "We will. But for whatever it's worth, it's nice to see you again, Kurusu. And you, Tsuruga. I really appreciate both of you coming out to see me."

Akira surprised Aiko again by actually chuckling once they were back out in the hospital lobby. "Hm. I guess I can kiss my notes goodbye."

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing. Grown-up humor."

Not understanding at all, Aiko shook her head to clear it. "Sorry I wasn't much help back there. I saw that look in her eyes, and I just kind of... blanked out."

"Nijima-san is pretty scary when she gets mad", Akira acknowledged evenly. "Hell, I'm impressed that you didn't run screaming out of the room."

The impulse had certainly occurred to her earlier, but she managed to scoff. "I'm not _that_ cowardly, Kurusu-kun. Besides, she deserves to know the truth. Hiding it from her until she's better would just make things even worse."

"That might be the most mature thing I've heard you say, Tsuruga", he remarked slyly. "Still, in this particular case it's hard to argue for that. I just hope she doesn't have any problems with her recovery exercises."

"Do you think she's right?"

Surprised by the sudden question, Akira stared back at the pale-haired girl and slowly shook his head. "No. I still think that you should keep trying. Keep on being the dream voyagers. Besides, it's too late for you to go back now. The Masked Circle won't leave you alone just because you leave them alone."

"Right. Pelagio said the same thing", Aiko acknowledged. "What about the Lands? We could stop doing that at least."

"If you do", he reminded her, "then this Kaneshiro lady, whoever she may be, will lose her soul. Nijima believed that blocking off the Yume bay would stop that from happening again. Apparently, she was wrong. Just like she was wrong about you."

"Yes." She realized that she wanted to agree completely with Akira's analysis of the situation, and that realization conjured in her head the ridiculous image of Akira and Makoto being a pair of arguing parents, with her as the frightened daughter in between wishing they wouldn't fight. "Thank you for believing in us, Kurusu-kun."

Adjusting his glasses in the afternoon light, Akira smiled warmly. "I know what it's like. To be a teenager stuck in an enormous world that's already written you off as trash. Disposable. To have the chance to be something more, and help people along the way." Stopping, he chuckled again. "And if we're being completely honest here, the chance to get violent, vent your frustrations on something, and not get arrested for it."

"I will admit, that has been a part of it", she joked back, glad to be with one of the few people who would actually understand her. "If I lost both Faraway Lands and the fencing club, I really think I might explode."

"Fencing club, huh? Nice. I would have liked to have been able to join a club back at Shujin", Akira mused. "But no one wanted to let the 'dangerous delinquent' into a club."

"That must've been awful for you", Aiko agreed sadly. Mira had given her the full story earlier and like most people, it infuriated her as well as filled her with a great sympathy for all that Akira had endured six years prior. "Judged as a criminal just because you tried to help that lady. Just because that horrible man wanted to avoid facing justice for his crime."

Stroking the bristles on his chin as he took a seat, Akira nodded. That wound had been deep, but it was also old, crusted over. Sometimes, it felt like it was almost healed. "Like I said, I found something to make it not hurt quite so much. A chance to fix the world. I suppose that way I'm lucky, even if-"

Seeing his pause, she stared closer. "Kurusu? What's wrong?"

Just as quickly, the hesitation in his words and face left. If anything, he looked more confident than before. "You talked with Igor, right?"

"Occasionally", she admitted, not quite sure where he was going with this. "When I sleep, and dream."

"And he wasn't trying to force you into anything? His voice was high-pitched, not deep?"

"High-pitched.", she decided, needing only a second to consider the distinction. " _Definitely_ high-pitched. He's creepy."

"Oh yes. That he is", Akira agreed in a relieved tone. "But the one I met, the deeper-voiced one who put me on the path of a thief... he wasn't the real one. In the end, that one was just using me to prove his point that humanity was beyond saving. And still... _still_ , we ended up doing some real good in the world, I think. We stopped Kamoshida, Kaneshiro, and lots of other people with distorted hearts. In the end, we even took down the impostor too."

"Nijima-san told us about some of that", Aiko considered carefully. "What's your point?"

"My point, Tsuruga", Akira noted sternly, "is that even though that whole thing was started six years ago just because a jerkass God decided that he wanted to play a rigged game with us humans, we _still_ were able to make something positive out of it. And if you're getting guidance from the real deal, helping you to fight against something that's trying to draw human souls out into the ocean... then I trust him too. I trust that he wouldn't have asked you to do all this if it wasn't important."

Thinking about it, she snorted. "I don't think he would have brought me to the Velvet room just to say hello. If I was just some random person. So..."

"'Why me?'", Akira said the words before she could formulate them, peering over at her and smiling. "That's what you were thinking about, right? If Igor didn't choose you, then who did?"

"Yeah. Pretty much", she agreed distantly, staring into her fists beside him. "Who decided that I get to use the wild card? Who decided that I get to have a Persona at all? Are they the ones that made me lose..." Without even realizing it, she had reached down to touch her ruby shard in her pocket, the last remnant of her first hairpin.

Then she felt the firm pressure on her shoulder, Akira's arm both strong and reassuring. "Hey. If you ever meet them, you should thank them. Because of that, you saved two people's lives. And you're not done yet, are you?"

"Y-yeah", she agreed shakily. "It- Anne Bonny- changed my life, just as much as anyone else's."

"And Arsene changed mine", Akira echoed sagely. "Just seeing the look on Kamoshida's face in that dungeon, now... _that_ was a rush like nothing I'd ever felt before. Scared the piss out of Ryuji too, I think."

Flashing back to how her own Awakening had felt, she nodded. "You felt... _free_ , right?"

"Completely." The afternoon light had slid across his glasses, obscuring his eyes and leaving his expression hardened, nearly inscrutable. "Everything else just fell away. Nothing else mattered except that Kamoshida paid. That _I_ made him pay, even if I damned myself by doing it."

Sensing her apprehension, he shook his head, casting black frizzy hair around. "Of course, in my mind, I already was damned. That made it easier. The choice was freedom, or death. Guess I was just lucky that Arsene wasn't actually the devil he looks like, inside. Or maybe... maybe it had nothing to do with luck."

"No?"

His focus tightening, Akira stared into his own hand, as though expecting the blue fire from his memories to come out. "Sorry. I can't really describe myself as an 'expert' on the subject. Personas and Shadows and the world they inhabit are, naturally, kind of difficult to study scientifically when there's like a dozen people in the whole world, none of whom are scientists, who know about them. Igor and his attendants are probably the closest thing, but even when they described it to me, I couldn't understand it. Not completely."

"But you used and fought them for almost a year", Aiko pointed out. "So if any human knows about them, it would be you."

"You might be better off asking Futaba about this stuff", Akira protested, but seeing the worry in her eyes, he acquiesced. "Oh, fine. According to my 'sources'- which is just a fancy way of saying I asked Igor and Lavenza about it- Arsene was a part of me even before I went to the Metaverse. He's a manifestation of my inner will of rebellion, if that makes any sense."

"More than you think", she remarked. "Don't forget, I had an Awakening too. And when that happened for the first time, I was ripping through those Shadows like an expert. Like..." Stiffening, she sighed. "It felt like something else was guiding my actions. Some part of me that I'd forgotten how to use."

Mulling it over, Akira nodded understandingly. "The world that we live in has no patience for rebellion. The first thing you're taught as a kid is to behave. To not make a fuss."

Hardly appreciating the comparison, she rolled an eye at him. "We're not screaming babies, Kurusu."

"Nah", he jested back with a sardonic grin. "We were screaming adults. Screaming for a real, legit reason; 'cause we just couldn't take it any more. We couldn't stand the injustice of the world we were trapped in." Looking a bit more serious, he released his hand.

"I read up on Anne Bonny too you know. After you told me that she was your first Persona, I mean. She was vicious, and ruthless, and maybe she was just a little bit crazy in the head too. But she lived in a time when you _had_ to be a little scary to get respect as a leader."

"I see. No change there, then."

Akira's laughter billowed into the quiet lobby's acoustics. "Look, Tsuruga. I once knew a legit fortune teller in Shibuya. I'm not sure if I really believe in all that reincarnation stuff, but there's _got_ to be a reason that our Personas are based on legendary people, whether they're fictional or not. We've inherited their aesthetics, their will. The Metaverse, or Faraway Lands, or whatever that crazy place is called... it just lets that will manifest as power. Because those legends still have power in the human mind. Otherwise, nobody would bother to write them down."

"History class", she remembered knowingly. "If we spend time covering an individual named person, it's because that person either accomplished a lot, or they became a symbol for certain themes in their times. Or both."

"Ishikawa Goemon", he remarked with a snap of his fingers. "The guy got freaking boiled alive together with his son for his crimes. But what he did, the way he did it, inspired people. Inspired them so much that he stuck in their minds and became a Persona for one of the other Phantom Thieves on my team. Someone who shared in his aesthetics, his drive."

Returning her gaze to floor, Aiko considered the words. "I don't know if I really _like_ Anne Bonny's aesthetics. They're a little too... wild. I definitely don't want to scare my friends."

"Did they ever look like they were scared?", Akira asked. "At least, once they realized that it was just a Persona that you'd taken on? A mask?"

"No", she admitted. "They didn't. Mira-chan still gets scared of it sometimes, but I know that's just because she's frightened for me, not _of_ me. At least, I hope not."

"Understandable", he considered, thinking back to his own conversation with Mirambela. "Hopefully, soon she'll realize that she doesn't have to worry so much. Worrying is usually pointless, I find. It's what actually happens that matters."

"Yes", she agreed slowly. It wasn't an easy thing to process, but faith in Akira's greater experience got her through it. "If we hadn't confessed to Nijima-san now, then we would've had to do it later. This is better, even if she's stressed out now."

"Exactly." Standing back up, he walked forward to open the exit door for her. "You just worry about your own business for now, Tsuruga. _I'll_ worry about Makoto Nijima."

* * *

6/13 Friday

After School

Sitting in a corner of the gymnasium, Mirambela Sorano hunkered down to herself and tried for what felt like the hundredth time not to let her suspicions drive her off.

 _Fear is one thing. Laziness born out of fear is another. You said that you would do this. So DO it._

Whatever the danger, it was much safer than fighting Shadows would be. Torade Yoshida was part of the school volleyball team and practiced regularly here- she could see him on the left side of the court, messy dark brown hair sticking out everywhere but kept just short enough that it wouldn't get in his eyes whenever he had to leap up and catch the ball. Like most of this scrimmage team, his upper body was leaner than she expected of school athletes, but he didn't seem to be tiring at all yet, simply enjoying himself.

He certainly didn't look like an agent of an evil nightclub bent on luring people into Awakening to Personas.

 _But then_ , she reminded herself, _the first time I saw Kujou, she looked like an attractive, charismatic leader, and someone I could trust to help students in need of guidance._

Time and punishment had corrected that naive perception. No matter how she disliked remembering back to how horribly her previous year at school had gone, the memories would never fade, not completely. Inevitable, she decided, when she had this year to compare it to.

It wasn't perfect, of course. Benihime Kujou had always been her chief tormentor, but in the end she was merely the loudest expression of an idea that a lot of students and some teachers on campus had accepted in their hearts, or at least considered whenever it showed up on television or internet. Inevitably there would be some judiciously placed messages on her locker or her desk, the occasional insult that she would 'accidentally' overhear from students, usually on the topic of her intelligence. To some, she would always be 'Stup-rano'.

But all the recent rumors circulating around about Kujou being voted out of the student disciplinary committee had little to do with the difference this year. It was Aiko Tsuruga, of course. Aiko had helped her again and again, supported her the whole way through, and as long as they were together she didn't dare let anything get her down the way it had last year.

Which was likely the reason why she kept delaying on the next step she had discussed with Akira Kurusu. The step of becoming less dependent on her friend. _I suppose this is a good way to test that. Successful surveillance of Yoshida-kun without Ai-chan here to support me._

The last thing she wanted was to be a _vimelea_ , a parasite that could only live when her friend was around, draining away Aiko's energy when she already had more than enough on her own plate to deal with.

Still, this habit she'd fallen into was a comfortable one. Difficult to leave behind, just as much as the fear. And if Kotone was any indication, she wasn't the only person who felt that way.

 _What does it feel like, I wonder? To have multiple people respect and look to you for strength?_

She'd never known that feeling herself. She supposed it wasn't so different from being her _papa_. Eight children of disparate ages plus a wife, and somehow he'd managed not to neglect any of them. If someone asked anyone in his family about it, Mirambela knew that none of them, herself included, would have anything but positive things to say. _Well... maybe Wanacha. He was always such a smart mouth, being the eldest male child._

Caught up in her thoughts, she nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt the weight of someone else taking the spot next to her. _Yes. Excellent. Way to show everyone you're not a high-strung weakling 'Stup-rano' any more._

"Apologies", the surprising gentleness in the boy's voice managed to calm her down again. "You didn't react when I called to you."

She winced. _And apparently so scatterbrained that I couldn't hear anything._

Deep-ingrained instincts said to pull away and run. She refused to listen to them. "S-sorry, Vitienne-kun. I was just... distracted."

" _Vengebung_ ", Noel replied casually. "I know what it is to be lost all alone in your thoughts, Sorano. It's a most dangerous habit." Settling into his seat at last, he watched Yoshida jump and miss a fast shot. "You're interested in volleyball, then?"

"Not really", she admitted. Directly lying would serve no purpose even if she couldn't exactly tell the truth. _Or maybe...?_ "Just seeing how it works. We never saw this sport where I come from."

"I think you would be good at it", Noel suggested, gesturing at the team at the other side of the gym, which indeed had an equal number of girls. "It's much more popular with girls than soccer or baseball. It demands a certain agility, which I have noticed you seem to possess a fair bit of."

Mira smiled back. _Maybe. Maybe if I wasn't spending a lot of time testing that agility already with far higher stakes._

It actually made her feel guilty sometimes, just how swiftly 'Dancer' was able to dodge Shadows' attacks in Faraway Lands while 'Gunslinger', 'Saber' and 'Guardian' were struck far more often in battle than her. Swiftly healing their damage alleviated that guilt, yet it remained.

"...I'm considering it. But I don't know if they'll accept me on the team."

Refusing to falter, Noel snorted, palming his chin. "Ah yes. I can imagine the reason why, even if it's a foolish one. Still, the worst thing they can do if you apply is say no. Rudely. So I say, you should go for it. And if they are rude, then perhaps a little rudeness in return would feel better."

Blinking in surprise at the uncharacteristic boldness of his words, Mira turned to him. "I'm not Ai-chan. I'm not good at insults."

"Maybe you should spend some time with my friend Niyoga first. He's a true master of the art."

"I mean, there's _no point"_ , she affirmed desperately, wishing he would understand. "It would just make them mad at me, or worse report it to the teachers and get me in trouble."

"I suppose", he admitted, watching as the game resumed. "I only wished for you to not be frightened by the possibility of ridicule. It's for the best that we create our own possibilities without thinking so much about what people say about us."

Knowing that he wasn't really talking about her, she regarded him more sympathetically. "How are the Furusatos?"

"Mm. So you know about that", he considered distantly. "They haven't pressed charges against me yet. I'm hoping that nothing comes of it, that they will understand that prosecuting me won't heal their pain. Still, we're no longer on speaking terms."

"If you do end up going to co-", she choked back the word, reluctant to air the worst possibility before touching her phone. "If something happens, I have the phone number of a good defense attorney in Tokyo. She works cases of her choosing for the most part, and I'm sure she would be interested in helping you once she heard the full story of what happened to Furusato-chan."

Surprised that someone Mira's age would know an attorney, he nodded back. "I appreciate that. Sadly, I'm not quite sure if anyone really knows the full story of what happened to her, except for her. Or...?"

Understanding what he meant, she tried to focus back on the game, back on Yoshida's actions for a while. That was why she was there. When it became clear that wasn't going to make Noel go away, she leaned back, trying to make sure no one else would hear.

"Everyone is different, Vitienne-kun. Everyone has their own things that they cherish, and their way of reacting when they lose those things. You knew Furusato-chan better than I did. If you're asking me why I ran out of the school, and took over a week to come back... I'm sorry. That's private."

"I see", he surrendered. "Something less weighty, then; do you know where Tsuruga-chan is now?"

Mira nodded in relief. _He's back to normal._ "She's at the shore. Come with me."

* * *

That wasn't quite accurate. Aiko wasn't on the south beach, but just as she felt the question creeping into Noel's throat they both saw a figure cresting the horizon. The seemingly endless rains that had ruled the first two weeks of June had paused to let fresh sunlight in, allowing them a clear sight of the Fiddler's Green. A clear sight of the three people on board

Seeing them, Mira smiled and waved. "I guess Rosea-kun wanted to join in today too."

"Join in?", Noel sounded confused. "What are they doing?"

"Training", Mira decided was the most appropriate word after a moment's consideration. "You see that old guy with the pipe? That's Byzael. He made this deal with Tsuruga-chan where if she learns how to operate his ship, she can have it when she's old enough."

" _Genau so_?", he wondered in amazement. "Byzael offered to just give up that fine vessel in a few years? Why?"

"Good question", Mira agreed. Noel was traveling ground she'd gone over several times before deciding not to worry too much about it. "While Ai-chan won't want to hear it... I get the feeling that Byzael thinks he might not be around for much longer. So he wants someone who will care for his ship the way he does."

"I've seen him", Noel protested. "He's not so old. Most of our teachers are older."

"I know. That's just my best guess. And so long as he doesn't try to hurt Ai-chan in any way, it's none of my business. Huh. Maybe that's why Rosea-kun wanted to join them today. To make sure."

Jiachi looked more than a little winded as they clambered off the aged wooden boat, for once unwilling to speak until he could find his legs again. Byzael was the opposite, as energetic as Noel had ever seen an adult as the two of them closed the sails and let the ballast bags go.

"Another friend?", he asked once they hit the sand. "And here you were complaining about no one liking you."

"I wasn't complaining", Aiko corrected. Despite her words, she shared in the captain's grin and energy. "Commenting. There's a difference. Complaining sounds like this:"

She made an obvious twist on her vocal chords, making her voice sound higher and far whinier. "'Waaaaah! I got kicked off the student councillll! Waaaah! How will I ever bully _gaijin_ and get away with it nowwww?!'."

"Classic", Noel clapped sarcastically. "It escapes me why you're here instead of in a club refining your comedy talents, Tsuruga."

"Sure, I'll do that after I graduate", she shot back. "All joking aside, it's good to see you again, Vitienne-kun. Is Shigetsu okay?"

"He's fine", he smiled back. "He said he had another attack the other day, but I was there for him. I'll be visiting him again later tonight to make sure."

"Good", she said, momentarily deflated at the mention of Shigetsu's earlier breakdown repeating. "Sorry I haven't been able to visit him in the last few days. I've been busy."

"It's quite alright", he promised. "There's no need for you to give him any more. I will be able to support him going forward."

That surprised more than just Aiko. "Really?", Mira asked. "You can do that while also paying to study abroad for years?"

At once, the blond boy looked extremely embarrassed. "Well... erm... yes. You see... While my family are not exactly _haute volee_ , they are nested comfortably on the upper end of the country's wealth scale."

He had no idea what kind of reaction to expect from the others, but their reaction seemed mostly positive until Julian perked up and looked at him with new eyes. "Seriously dude? And you never told anybody here that your family's loaded?! More like 'Oh Hell'..."

"And _that_ ", Mira pointed out sternly, "would be the reason why, right? If people knew..."

"Thank you, Sorano", Noel bowed gratefully. "As I learned when I was a young age at home, there are no small number of perils associated with being the son of a wealthy family. And some other reasons, too."

"People would come to you", Aiko guessed carefully. "They'd pretend to be your best friend, when all that they really wanted was your money. And you get more than enough flack for being a foreigner already; imagine how it would be if everyone knew you were a _rich_ foreigner."

" _Ja_. Correct on all counts", Noel sighed unhappily. "Indeed, before I met you, the only ones whom I truly considered to be my friends were Niyoga and Furusato-san."

"And now you've lost both", Aiko realized, eyes lowering. "I'm sorry."

"Not both", Noel corrected her cheerfully. "Oh, it's true that Niyoga is in one of his moods right now. He doesn't approve of my career choice. But I still believe that he will come around and accept me again. He has before."

"I heard about that", she brightened. "A manga artist, huh? Congratulations! If you make it, I mean."

"It is, like all things, in the hands of God", he offered humbly. "However, I will have lots of time to practice, now that I will be taking care of father Shigetsu after school."

"You kids seem to be having fun", Byzael cut in with a merry chortle that made Aiko shamefully realize she'd almost forgotten he was there. "I'll catch you later, Tsuruga. You did well today."

Unabashedly happy, she waved back as he climbed back aboard the Green. "Thanks! I really learned a lot today. We'll see you later."

Some shared instinct found the four drifting towards the peach tree that marked the path leading back to the school and dorms. Once there, Noel produced the pocket-sized red sketchbook from before, idly flipping through it next to the tree instead of walking.

"Right", Ai remembered. "We never did do that sketch you promised, did we? Sorry I'm not exactly in great shape for it now." As expected, their 'trial run' had covered her and Jiachi in dirt, sweat and grime.

"That can wait", he agreed, his voice growing distant and hands tightening on the book's covers. "Actually... I wanted to show you something. Sorano and Rosea may see it as well."

His tone, the way he worded it, caught her full attention at last. Only more so when he flipped through the pages- some blank and some occupied- towards his goal.

They all stared. The picture at the end of the book was easily familiar to them. It came as a shock that made Mira clap a hand to her mouth and Jiachi frantically reach down for revolvers he wasn't actually carrying for a number of other reasons.

It looked far from Noel's best work, like it had been sketched furtively in brief sessions, brief clouds of excess lead covering numerous spots, different parts of the page bearing different shades of pencil suggesting it had been a multi-session job.

Yet it was also unmistakable. It was Aiko. Or rather, it was Saber. The cutlass and large flintlock pistol on a leather belt. The fancy pale greatcoat, breeches and the hat that Julian and Mira had come to look to for guidance when they were in the other world. Even the smaller details were captured, such as the way the hat's brim covered the eyes and the pirate's lips curled upward into a mischievous, even cruel-seeming smile.

"Tsuruga-chan, if I may be so blunt", Noel asked, politely calling them all back to themselves, and the expectant gaze before them. "Please tell me the truth. Is this you?"

* * *

6/13 Friday

Evening

The sound of repeated brass blasts hit Ryuken Samesaji's ears in a pleasing way, enhanced by the club's excellent acoustics. He always admired that particular rhythm, the way the quick short blasts set the band onstage apart from the brass bands which had been commonly rejected by most Japanese audiences for being too 'cheery', or 'foreign', or any of a dozen other excuses, each as weak as the last.

Mu-jogi was different. They had a raw, driving intensity to them normally reserved for younger bands, and Ryuken knew by the number of people who had come out and bought tickets for tonight that they were a keeper, more than any of a dozen singers he'd trained. He made sure to wink at the band leader, the eldest of them but never quite old or dignified to completely pull off the suit and tie look, then he was past the crowds and headed through the spiral door to the stairs.

He made sure to knock at the next door and immediately heard Lady Scorpio's voice answer him. "In a moment please, Taurus. I'm not yet prepared."

Waiting, he studied the fine wrought iron of the stair railing, idly wondering just how old it was as a relic from the previous owners. Most of the time it was fine enough, but there was the rare case like this one where it felt like he was the adult in this arrangement, not her. Scorpio might have been the power behind the Masked Circle, but without a public face to cover for her she would have been helpless as any other shut-in, and she didn't even use the internet.

"...You may come in now."

The mirrors in the dressing room had been repaired now, and the hostess bore her mask and kimono with the usual dignity from her seat, several brushes and containers on a nearby table confirming what he already knew, that she had been cleaning her hair and face.

"You don't have to do that, you know", he offered amiably. "I don't mind."

"I mind", she replied flatly, her mirrored geisha mask staring into her hands. "I cannot allow anyone else to behold my false self. That face is repulsive. Ugly. Weak. No. That is not my face. _This_ is my face."

"If that's how you want it, my lady", Taurus agreed in a rare show of pity for her. "I still think that you're hiding a beautiful face from the world though. I've never met a woman your age who I thought was ugly."

"You can turn the charm off, Taurus", she ordered, all business again now that she'd once again sealed her flesh away behind cold porcelain, folding her long sleeved arms crossly. "I've located the new Land. The Land created by your mistake."

Rolling his eyes, he nodded. "More like created by me removing a nuisance who would have kept coming after us, disrupting our operations. Besides, I didn't do it. He just fell in, that's all."

"Just fell in", she echoed mockingly. "But in removing one threat, you've opened the possibility for a greater one. I have seen activity within that Land. The Tsuruga girl and her friends have already located it. If they are able to save and recruit that Land's ruler to their side, as they have twice before..."

Immediately understanding the danger, he considered the issue more seriously. "Right. Sorry. It was an accident. Excuse me for not being perfect. At least I can walk outside."

Disregarding his sarcasm, Scorpio raised an arm. "Luckily, we still have an opportunity to correct this mistake. The Land is vast, and perilous. I believe that even these 'dream voyagers' will find it difficult to succeed in their mission there. Particularly... if we endeavor to make their task even more demanding."

Taurus' eyes narrowed and he reached up and touched his spiral earring for luck. "Huh. You think that we should send some of our special Shadows to attack them while they're in there?"

"No", a sigh came through her frozen lips. "I believe the time has come for us to offer the Tsuruga girl her final chance to join in our Salvation. Mere Shadow trash cannot be trusted with such an offer."

He stared back, not quite comprehending yet. "You? You're okay with going to- Oh."

"Not King Leo", she explained quickly. "He overdid his previous assignment, nearly killing the Nijima woman. His madness has grown worse. I couldn't trust him with any mission that doesn't require the complete destruction of our target."

"Which leaves only me", he concluded, trying his best not to let the sudden excitement he felt cloud out his scheduling skills. "I'll have to have Nayuta-san take over while I'm gone then."

"She is fine", Scorpio agreed. "I have delved into her mind. She wants nothing more than to prove herself to us, and be gifted with an Awakening trial so that she might aid our Salvation. Such a pity that Tsuruga doesn't seem to feel the same way."

"It's a waste", he agreed. "That's why I'll definitely do anything I can to make her see reason first. Nayuta-san's good and all, but it would be better for us to have someone who's already Awakened and partly trained."

It would be better still to have the original Queen Aquarius back with them, he knew, but that seemed unlikely. Cecille Yumika had made it abundantly clear that she wanted nothing more to do with the Masked Circle. She was content to live a normal life as an elementary school teacher, spinning lies to children about a future she knew would not exist.

He'd tried to reach out to her. He really had. But those attempts only confirmed that he would never understand that way of thinking. Joker- or Akira Kurusu as he insisted on being called- and Queen Aquarius both had held the potential to be Gods in their hands... and they had both thrown it away on some idiotic pretense of modesty, wanting to stay as weak humans when they could be so much more.

Maybe Aiko Tsuruga would understand him better, once they met in person for the first time.

"I'll get ready then", he considered. "This is a long weekend coming up, for Marine Day. No school. There's no way they wouldn't return to the Land for at least one of those days when the gate appears."

"Yes. I believe so", Scorpio nodded. "I will monitor you from here, naturally. It will only require a few minutes of this world's time each day."

"Monitor?", he wondered aloud. "What, you don't think I can do it? Come on. You know you good I am."

"I think that your victory is not completely guaranteed, Taurus", she elaborated sullenly. "Particularly with your current attitude. Don't forget, you will be outnumbered by them."

Trying not to scoff, he shook his head and put two fingers over his heart. "That hurts, y'know. You trained me well. They're just a bunch of snot-nosed kids playing dress-up, pretending to be heroes. I can handle them."

"Perhaps", she allowed. "But you should remain cautious all the same. Bring some Shadows along with you if you need to-"

"I'll be _fine_ ", he repeated more forcefully. "I don't need Shadow trash helping me. This is what I live for!"

"Yes. And that's what worries me."

"Well, you worry too much", he claimed, drawing closer to the mask so she could see in his eyes that he certainly wasn't taking this as a joke, or a vacation. "I've got this. I've got it."

Running out past her niggling doubts got him back to the stairs, then further down to the club basement. As a purely utility corridor, it lacked any of the decorum most of the club had, but a series of caged lights illuminated his way forward... As well as the small shape suddenly dashing out of the lowercase shadows directly into and through his legs.

Turning around fast, he recognized the shape and color of the intruder but little else. "Black kitty, huh? Wonder how he got in? Guess I'll have to ask Nayuta-san to tighten up security around here. We're supposed to be a no-pets building, after all, heh."

Checking the outer hall confirmed that the cat had managed to elude him, moving faster than him, no doubt scared out of his mind. Or hers. He wasn't an expert on felines. The only time he'd gotten into cats was a brief period where Kotone had begged him for one as a cute pet, only to be shut down when he found out how expensive caring for, de-clawing and vaccinating one really was.

Like almost everything else his sister had ever wanted, he would have gladly given it to her if he'd had the money. Instead, he put Kotone's innocent gaze out of his mind and stalked back down the basement area until he reached a short bolted locker intended to be used for costumes and props.

And in a sense, it still was.

Inside the grille door, the overhead light cast its glare over a cylinder of shiny, reflective metal, ending in a sharp black-ringed handle. Grabbing it, he pulled on it and grunted. "Heh. Can't blame a guy for trying. Wouldn't that be something if I could now..."

Standing back from the handle, he took a deep breath, reflexively casting his mind back to the same mental key he'd found years ago. Of course he would be unable to lift the large hammer out of the locker normally- that pommel was made of pure factory-grade steel. There was a long chain attached to it as well, but all he would be able to do is pull it taut. The entire weapon weighed nearly a quarter of a ton. No human would be able to lift it.

Ryuken Samesaji would never be able to lift it. But Prince Taurus would.

Stepping further back to be safe, he focused his mind and _remembered_. Remembered so many things. Remembered learning that his parents were gone, vanished. Remembered the strain of trying to become a parent to Kotone when he was barely out of high school. Remembered applying for hundreds, thousands of low-paying jobs, again and again and again, only to be turned down. Remembered watching their limited budget begin to peter out, and knowing _exactly_ where Kotone would go if he couldn't hold it together.

Remembered the rage that had gotten him here, and thoughts that had begun their endless cycle through his head, and his heart, wearing down his patience until he couldn't even stand the overbearing condescension of job interviewers any longer. The thought that kept coming up in his mind more and more with every fresh failure.

 _A world which forces its people to prostate themselves before unfeeling billionaires in this way. To grub and grab and fight and beg for the smallest scraps they need to make it through the day, only to worry about how they will feed their loved ones tomorrow?_

The thought had followed him, been his constant companion. It was that thought which gave birth to Prince Taurus:

 _Somebody ought to burn this motherfucker down._

 _Such a world is not worthy of existence._

 _Such a world should be_ conquered _. Torn down. Eradicated to make way for something better, where strength and intelligence, not luck, is rewarded._

Remembering all of that and the associated feelings, his lips opened to whisper in the darkness, in chorus with the internal voice which had helped him to Awaken the first time. He had known then that those words, those thoughts, had been his true self.

And it was screaming to get out.

Lady Scorpio called it his 'inner will of destruction'. A power born of the purest hatred.

" **Oh Mighty Mithras. Together, we shall conquer."**

He sensed a slight distortion in the dusty air of the basement, and then he _felt_ it. Felt the familiar surge of flame blasting all the way through his bones, through blood and ligament and tendon and tissue until it felt like the basement walls had begun to close in around him. An optical illusion, he knew, caused by the knowledge that a misstep from him now could likely destroy those walls.

Power. Power. _Power._ Real, individual, personal power. Not the false kind of power gained by possessing billions of worthless pieces of paper that all humans had agreed to pretend were valuable, and storing them away in banks.

Spending a minute laughing quietly to himself, idly glorying in the wonderful, giddy sensation of his Persona's raw strength first, he eventually reached back into the locker to grab the handle, taking the chain in his good arm. With an satisfied grunt of effort, he pulled the weapon free of its housing at last, as Ryuken Samesaji could never do.

Despite being holed up and forgotten in the basement locker for months, the hammer looked just as beautiful as he remembered it being when it had been created, the flat business end reflectively shiny, shaped like an enormous bull's cloven hoof on one end before steadily diminishing to a wicked-looking metal horn on the other.

With Mithras' rage eagerly pouring through him, he could lift the weapon. And with that weapon in his hand and Mithras' strength driving it, no Shadow trash had ever been able to match him in combat. They were all conquered, forced into submission to the Masked Circle.

"Still", Prince Taurus noted, reluctantly remembering Lady Scorpio's worries about facing other Persona-users as he smiled into the hammer. Always the worrier even if an operation had a 1 percent chance of failure... but she had a point. "It's been a while. I hope I haven't lost the touch."

* * *

Persona Profile #8: _Bilwis_

Arcana: Sun

Strength: Curse

Weakness: Wind, Gun

Abilities: Dia, Bufu, Venom Blast

Background: A kobold or minor demon from Bavarian and Austrian folklore. Bilwis was originally a benevolent trickster who would tangle the hair of children in their sleep. He could also cure illness if treated well. In time, Bilwis became a Bogeyman who robbed farmers of their crops, using the sickles on his feet and his pitchfork to enter fields and steal from them.

* * *

A/N: Happy Easter to all. Once again this one ended up being a bit longer than expected due to structure issues, but it's finally done now. There's always a difference between having a plan and executing it in a compelling way, and I've had to make some changes there too to make things flow a bit better.

Speaking of planning for the future of this story, I would now like to request which of the original characters you like the most and would like to see more of. As I said I have plans, but plans can change, and I feel like I've been giving far too much spotlight to the protagonist character Aiko as of late, even if that is kind of a running tradition for the Persona series.


	37. Night Rain

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _No Escape, No Place More Dangerous To Search For Truth_

 _Than Within Your Enemy_

* * *

6/13 Friday

Evening

 _MS: we should tell him_

 _AT: i know how you feel, but you know what he'll want to do next_

 _JR: huh? what?_

 _AT: he'll want to see Furusato_

 _AT: he'll want to come with us to try and 'help'_

 _JR: so? Maybe he can awaken to a Persona_

 _AT: sorry, can't take that risk_

 _AT: only woke up to mine when I was about to die, you want to put him in that situation?_

 _MS: no but we can rell him we're searching for her_

 _MS: tell*_

 _JR: more important, how did he know what Saber looks like?_

 _JR: or us?_

 _AT: asked Pelagio, he said that Faraway Lands is the human subconscious_

 _AT: so in other words, people who are sleeping have a tiny chance of seeing us_

 _MS: but, that's..._

 _AT: yeah_

 _JR: heavy_

 _AT: we just went along with the code names bc we thought they were cool_

 _AT: very glad we did that now, it would be very awkward if someone hears our real names in their dreams_

 _AT: also important to always wear our masks_

 _AT: shouldn't be talking about this stuff in a chat anyway_

 _AT: i want to go back to the Land tomorrow, that okay with everyone?_

 _MS: so soon after last time? D=_

 _AT: the sooner the better, and we can't do it on Monday 'cause that's the Marine Day Festival_

 _JR: oh yeah, forgot about that, you gonna go?_

 _AT: yeah, looks fun_

 _AT: might not be able to enjoy it though if I'm worried about that_

 _JR: ah, got it, i'm good to go tomorrow_

 _MS: are you sure?_

 _AT: yes_

 _MS: really really sure?_

 _AT: yes_

 _AT: if you don't feel up to it just say so_

 _MS: will that stop you from toing?_

 _MS: going*_

 _AT: no_

 _AT: sorry_

 _(Mirambela Sorano has left the chat)_

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Lunch

Makoto saw Akira coming in early through the room window and had a dozen seconds to try and soften her gaze, to make herself look less foreboding after what had happened between them last time.

She had realized years ago that her family- or at least the women in her family- seemed to have a specific talent for being intimidating when visibly angry. She could still remember a time when she had been not merely respectful of her sister Sae, but actually _fearful_ of her wrath. Years spent on the job in Tokyo had only confirmed this private theory further, and so the last thing she wished now was to turn that wrath on the person whom she trusted more than anyone else in the world. More than Sae.

More, sometimes, than herself.

But she could also tell by the wary look in the eyes behind his glasses that this wasn't one of those times. Just as it took nothing short of a cataclysm to change her mind or Sae's, so too was Akira immovable once he'd come to his decision about something. She might have entertained the idea that he'd picked it up from them, but someone who _wasn't_ stubborn like her from the start wouldn't have gotten as far as he had as a Phantom Thief before meeting her.

As ever, she underestimated Akira Kurusu.

"You were doing well", he called, eager to head off on any tangent he could find. "The doctors say you're already making fine progress."

"Fine progress at walking in a straight line", she scoffed. "That's not something I normally expect to receive a hearty congratulations for."

"Because this isn't a normal situation", his gaze bored into hers, no longer trying to fight her, rather but demonstrate all the concern she'd already known was there. Among his many, many positives, one possible fault in Akira had always been a subconscious reflex of keeping his emotions carefully hidden away, likely created from the incident which had started him down the path that brought him to Shujin academy and only exacerbated by the perils of the double life he had chosen to lead.

"You were thrown _off a balcony onto a car_ ", he emphasized stiffly. "People have been killed by way less than that. Or crippled for life. Suzui-san had to try for months to get her muscles back in working order after something similar happened to her."

He'd said nothing she didn't already know, and indeed in the last few days she had developed a new level of empathy for Shiho Suzui. Shiho's case had been worse due to a number of different reasons, not the least of which being a difference of age and physical toughness... but denying that she had needed these aggravatingly slow exercises the doctors had been putting her arms and legs through today would be a lie.

Much more relevant was what she hadn't known; that Akira had been watching her do that. Had been watching from a one-way window as she stretched, and stepped... and fell. More than once, in fact. The thickly cushioned floor for the room they used meant that even the most brutal slip couldn't possibly hurt her any further.

Rather, it was the idea of him seeing those slips at all that was making her blush and wish that he would go somewhere else for a while so she could cope. Illogical, yet undeniable.

"Well you've certainly made an impression on the doctors", he noted, trying to clear away her funk. "Are you okay with talking about... what happened?"

Makoto inclined her head courteously. "As you can see, I'm perfectly capable of speech, if not movement."

Blinking, he regarded her more cautiously. "Okay. Let me rephrase that then. Is this going to be too stressful for you? That nurse told me not to say anything that would agitate you too much."

More amused than insulted, she nodded back. "It sounds like this might be more stressful for you than for me. But it's better that you have this information than Tsuruga and the others. If you choose to pass this on to them after... that's on your head, Akira. I've made my position on this matter very clear. They're _kids_. They shouldn't be involved."

"So have I", he echoed sadly, resolute as ever. If his position wasn't in opposition to hers, she might find it endearing. "One of the main reasons we managed to get away with so much back then is because adults constantly underestimated people our age. They never once considered that the great Phantom Thieves stealing people's hearts could be mere high schoolers. Are you sure _you're_ not doing the same now?"

"No", she said sternly, the trademark Nijima glare returning to her face. "Unlike us, they have a choice. They don't have to risk their lives in that other world, but now they're doing it anyway. Because you didn't tell them to stop. And I assume...", she halted. "Neither did Morgana?"

Akira smirked back. "If anything, Morgana pushed for it harder than I did."

She hissed in vexation. "I knew it! He's worse than you are. Getting _children_ into situations like this, just like he did back then."

For the first time, Akira looked annoyed right back at her. Gently annoyed. "It's not like he roped us into stealing Kamoshida's heart. We _chose_ to do that, of our own will. We decided it was the only way."

"I know", she acknowledged bitterly. Ignorance of Kamoshida's crimes and a prior reluctance to even acknowledge them had haunted her for years afterwards. "I know. You, and Ryuji both. You both had a proverbial gun to your heads, no better option available to you... But as I said, this is completely different. They don't have a corrupt all-powerful teacher threatening to expel them for witnessing his crimes."

"No, they don't", he admitted. "But they _do_ have a conspiracy trying to use the other world to their own gain. Sound familiar? Maybe it's not as widespread as Shido's was, but from what I've seen so far, they're just as dangerous. Two, maybe three skilled Persona users. Shido only ever had the one." His eyes were cast downward, unable to stop himself from remembering his past experiences with that 'one'.

"There are three of them", Makoto confirmed with a sigh of surrender. Despite her stance, it was true that the threat of the Masked Circle was no longer something that she could handle alone. The truth had been made abundantly clear in her meeting with one of them. That, she knew, was the other reason Akira had returned to her so quickly. Not just to mend bridges, but to get information from her.

She wasn't the type to be offended by such cold, calculating actions. Not when the enemy was still there, outside of these hospital walls. To defeat Shido and save their own lives they had needed to be cunning, even merciless at times, and this was no different.

"The one who came for me at my residence", she said briskly, knowing before starting that she would be able to get it all out without a problem. The attack had damaged her body, not her mind, and certainly not her many years of experience and training in criminal profiling.

"He was a middle-aged man, perhaps my sister's age or a bit older. He wore a clean red dress vest and pants, white shirt and red tie, common fashion for a top-level manager in a major corporation. Short, dark hair. Flat, but frizzy at the edges- a bit like yours actually. Heterochromatic, one eye brown and the other one white."

"A white eye", Akira repeated in careful consideration, not needing to write any of it down. His memory would be more than enough. "Artificial, you think?"

"Probably, yes", Makoto agreed. "When he summoned his Persona, he scratched that eye with his fingernails, like it wasn't a living part of him. Like it was made of glass or metal."

"Only probably?"

She looked back at him in dismay. "Our encounter was very brief, but he gave me every impression that he was not a man in his right mind. He reminded me of a certain type of drug addicts I have seen at work back in Tokyo. He spoke of voices whispering to him, telling him about me. To use a certain colorful turn of phrase from my current partner Hideki, 'you could smell the crazy on him'."

Akira nodded soberly. "Yeah. Prince Taurus- Ryuken Samesaji- he came across to me the same way, kinda. Kept on insisting that I was 'Joker' instead of Akira, and said that 'Akira' wasn't welcome in his club even if Joker was."

That made Makoto sit up in her bed and made Akira fear that he'd pushed too much. "They know?!"

"They know", he confirmed rigidly. "At least, they knew who I was. And before you ask, they knew even before Tsuruga and her crew got involved."

"King Leo", she mused unhappily. "He said he sensed my Persona and wanted me to summon it, but he seemed surprised by it. Or not. It's difficult to tell with someone like that."

"King Leo", Akira repeated. "So it wasn't Prince Taurus who attacked you. Together with Lady Scorpio, that makes three. I'd heard there was a fourth, Queen Aquarius, but she left the Masked Circle. One less problem for us to deal with."

"Maybe", Makoto considered. "But if there _is_ another Persona user out there, I'd still like to try to find her. Maybe she could help us."

"'Help us'?", his brow furrowed in surprise. "This, after you're so dead-set against letting Tsuruga's crew do anything to help?"

"Tsuruga and her friends are teenagers", Makoto countered. "Leo, Taurus and Scorpio are all adults. I am assuming Queen Aquarius is roughly the same age here. Even if she isn't, I'd still want to make sure she isn't abusing the power in some other way."

"Still a cop", he noted morosely.

" _Always_ a cop", she affirmed with the Nijima iron swiftly returning to her voice despite her current injuries. "We're the only other ones who know about it. It's our responsibility to make sure that no one else ever misuses the cognitive world the way that Shido did."

"Yes", Akira remarked softly, keeping his eyes locked into hers so she would know beyond doubt that he was only joking. "Otherwise, they might go around stealing people's hearts. Wouldn't that be a shame. Luckily, this new incarnation seems to be harder to abuse that way than the Metaverse was."

"Maybe. But there's still a lot we don't know about Faraway Lands yet, and it's still very dangerous to anyone who might find themselves stuck there. That's why I sealed it off."

Hesitating, Akira sighed. "Sorry. Looks like it didn't take. Another person was lost. Tsuruga and her crew are heading off today to try and save them."

Her eyes widened in shock. "What?! But-but I blocked off the Yume bay..."

"The Yume bay", he emphasized. "But you can't block off the whole beach. It goes on for miles along the coastline both ways, and it looks like Faraway Lands isn't limited to just that one spot any more."

Makoto made a strange whispery noise in her throat that left Akira grateful that he was no longer the sole target of her ire.

"So you see", he continued once it was safe to do so. "The Dream Voyagers _are_ needed, at least for now. Even if my Persona works just fine in the other world- and I haven't had a chance to test that yet- we're no longer the Phantom Thieves. We've all got jobs, commitments, homes, families... Ryuji is heading to the freaking summer Olympics soon, and Haru moves around so much getting her new restaurant business set up I don't even _know_ where in the world she is right now. We can't just expect everyone to get back together to sort this out. It won't work."

Looking defeated at last, Makoto stared upwards not at Akira, but the ceiling light. "I just wanted it to finally be over", she protested softly, uncomprehending and scared. "I just wanted for our world to make logical sense. No more Personas. No more Shadows. No more nightmares. No more insanity."

He understood. Of course he understood. How many times had he woken up shouting from some nightmare involving one of their targets or some other Shadow? Despite his stance, he could certainly agree with Makoto on one thing- what they'd done as Phantom Thieves that year wasn't normal. It was a grand testament to their strength of mind- his, and all of his comrades- that they'd gotten through it all without going completely mad from the stress. The idea that _another_ group of high school students had been going through something similar in Tosashimizu had been just as galling for him when he'd first heard of it.

"You'd have to take that one up with God", he offered apologetically. "There's nothing we can do about it, except deal with it as best we can. You know that."

She waited a long time, almost perfectly still before reaching down into the white bedsheets. Fiddling around in her pocket, she withdrew a key ring. "Here. I suppose I should have given this to you yesterday, but I was too angry to remember. I'm so sorry, Akira."

"Thanks", he pocketed it without needing to confirm it was the key to her condo. The car key was there as well, in case he needed to use her rental. "And don't worry. I'll still be back every day for you."

"Must you?", she asked, smiling weakly when it looked like he'd misconstrued her words as her first ever joke. "I mean... ugh. I'm sorry. I know you care. I just don't like looking so vulnerable in front of you."

"Then I'll wait until you're done your exercises before I visit", he amended, trying not to smile back too much. There was only one person in the world who Makoto Nijima didn't want to be weak in front of. And it was him.

 _And yet, she has nothing to worry about. She's still strong. Stronger than ever, to confess so much to me. Six years... damn. Just where did the time go?_

"Six years", he heard her say, snapping him out of his own thoughts. "Six years, and I still haven't met anyone else outside of my sis who can match me in a battle of wits the way you do. When I'm out of here, I mean..."

His blood singing with the triumph of a successful 'mission', one more important than any heist, Akira leaned over close enough to plant a kiss on her freely offered cheek. "When you're out of here, we'll talk more. For now, please just relax, okay? I've got this. I've got it."

A wide shrug of mock helplessness took in the length of her bed, but Makoto couldn't quite stop smiling back despite her condition. "I don't have much of a choice right now, do I? I have no other option but to trust you to handle it. Fortunately, that's something I don't have a problem doing. Not anymore. Good luck, Akira."

He didn't want to leave her. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But Makoto's words made it clear what she was entrusting him with. It was like an authorization to go into a new job.

Instead, he was able to enjoy the feeling of warmth that accompanied him all the way out of the room and back out the lobby, then out the doors until he saw Morgana waiting for him beneath a bench.

"Hey. You win", he called to his feline friend. "Couldn't quite get the words out yet. I figure it's enough to mend things between us for now. Next-"

"Akira", Morgana cut him off, oddly serious for once. "You need to get to the gate. _Now._ Those kids are going back in today."

Not understanding, he frowned. "So? I thought we agreed we can trust them to handle things in there without me."

"To handle Shadows", Morgana yelped, his blue eyes so wide with alarm and his 'meows' so loud Akira worried it might draw attention. "Not Persona-users. They're heading into a trap!"

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Afternoon

To Saber's trained eyes, the waves ahead seemed just as turbulent as the ones in the real world. Pelagio's front took each buffeting hit without any sign of complaint or damage, allowing her to gaze further ahead across the sea of stars to their destination.

The trip from the gate to the new Land took much less time now that they had the place marked in the map chamber, but enough that she had time to think and reflect- something she had been trying to avoid for what felt like a long time.

 _Will my Personas still work here? Was it really just me being tired?_

She might have tried them out, testing their powers, but even that small thing felt like an admission of doubt. That couldn't be allowed. _No. Have to stay strong. For everyone else._

That concern must have still made itself visible, because Julian was suddenly sauntering up to next her, his voice noticeably less exuberant than his usual when they were heading into a place where he would be able to show off what he affectionately referred to as his 'skills'. "Hey. You okay, captain?"

Inwardly cursing, she turned and forced energy back into her lips. "I'm fine, thanks. Just trying to figure out where we should start if we want to find Kaneshiro in that city. First I thought we'd question the Shadows, but they seem pretty loyal to her from what we've seen so far. Or rather, to her Shadow."

"Haven't seen either yet", he noted, finding it just as strange. "Me, I'd start with the places you'd expect to find a leader hiding. Look for a building that looks like a city hall or a mansion. Prolly a really tall one."

"Which means we'll have to do some climbing", she responded. "I was hoping we could stay low, out of sight of those zeppelins, but that's no good if we can't find Kaneshiro." Pausing, she took a moment to check and adjust the topsail. "By the way, any luck with Oori?"

Jiachi shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, I got nothin'. He spends his off time at the Shogi club- he's not very good- or chatting outside with the other 3rd year guys about stuff. Nothin' sinister."

"Mine either", she admitted glumly. "Maybe we need a new approach there."

"Think about that later", he suggested. "For now, we've got a Shadow whose butt we need to kick. Prolly several."

"Actually, we don't have to", she pointed out optimistically. "All we really need to do is find the real person inside this Land, and convince them to come back with us. Of course, the Shadows usually try to stop us from doing that."

"At which point we'll need to kick their ugly butts", he replied. "Just need to know what to hit 'em with, right? You got your ice skills for the big heads with the staffs, bullets for the creepy spider-ladies and the floating guys in the chairs. Anything new shows up, we experiment 'til we find something that works. Easy pie."

Aiko smiled. Trust Gunslinger to make it sound so childishly simple. Still, as usual his brash confidence served its intended purpose, and picturing a victory over the thick-skinned Shadows who haunted the city was no longer impossible for her imagination.

"I thought we should start at the Breach from before", she replied. "Find a path up to the roofs that doesn't put us in the zeppelins' sights."

He shrugged. "Your call. 'Course, that's not really why you've got that stare in your eyes, huh?"

Not sure how to respond to that, she remained silent as he continued. "Come on, it's okay. Been thinkin' about it too. If what Vitienne says is true, then _any_ human has a chance of catching a glimpse of us during our missions whenever they sleep. Gettin' stage fright?"

"It definitely makes me want to make sure our masks are on", she considered, tapping her large hat brim securely. Certainly, the knowledge that they could be watched by blissfully unaware dreamers at any time left her feeling a great deal more uptight about it. "And make sure we're always using the code names. In fact, don't even say 'Vitienne'. Just say 'our friend'. I'll know who you mean."

"And all this time, I thought I wanted girls to dream about me", he snorted, looking down at the red jacket along with the black shirt and pants he had come to cherish when traveling to Faraway Lands.

"Not this time", she corrected sharply. "Most people would just blow it off as a random fantasy in their minds, but if anyone who knew us saw it..."

"Yeah", he agreed shakily. "That could be bad. Even I can tell that." Leaning back against the mast, he folded his arms behind his back. "'Course, Dancer has it easier in that department than we do. Nobody would recognize her in her outfit. She looks like..."

"Uh-huh." She didn't need to hear him finish to know what Mirambela looked like in her outfit with the beads, scarves and golden eye mask. _Like an avatar of her Persona. An orisha. Like she's truly become more than human, in some way._ Her remarkably graceful agility in battle more than matched that observation, often slinking around attacks so easily that it looked as though the enemy had been aiming to miss all along, more choreography than combat.

That memory got her confidence back up as they docked at the harbor, easily searching and locating the Breach they had used last time to escape. While it initially looked like nothing but a rectangular trench in the concrete, the dark water inside actually routed back to a dumpster they had found in the lowest portion of the city.

"Just like in Gunslinger's Land", she noted eagerly, the trench reminding her of the incomplete pool back at Koashimizu. "The less we have to expose ourselves to those zeppelins, the better." Those, she could already see creeping across the skyline, their large searchlights combing over the city's depths for signs of anything that wasn't a Shadow.

"No cognitions though", she noted to Pelagio once he'd reverted back to his armored form. "Have you ever seen that happen before, Guardian? A Land with only Shadows in it, and no cognitions? Or maybe the opposite?"

"I have seen the first, though it is extremely rare", Pelagio said politely. "If the ruler's ideal world is truly one with no other humans in it whatsoever. They would have to possess a very strong desire for complete solitude for that to be the case however. Unfortunately, I have never beheld the second- one with cognitions but no hostile Shadows. Lands attract and trap Shadows. That is simply their nature."

"No easy rides, huh", Jiachi remarked. "Whatevs. Shadows or cognitions, we won't let 'em stop us."

"Saber?" Mira didn't look nearly so confident as she caught up to the others. "I want... I wanted to tell you, I mean..."

Their leader's eyebrow shot up, momentarily thrown by the distress on her friend's face. "Huh? What's up, Dancer? Did you forget something?"

Despite Aiko's relaxed tone, the question only seemed to escalate Mira's panicked stuttering. "I, I, I... I'm..."

"Did you forget to fill Pelagio's transformation bottle? That's okay, we can just-"

Mira shook her head, not needing to raise the small plastic flask they used to let Pelagio temporarily transform into a more powerful shape for difficult fights. "I, I, I wanted to tell you-"

" _Prachtig."_

None of them had spoken the word, and it was loud enough to draw everyone's head around to its source.

Noel Vitienne stood there in his Koashimizu school uniform, hands in his pockets, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"All of this", he continued excitedly. "Generated from a mere dream."

* * *

For what felt like minutes, Aiko wasn't sure what to do. How to react? Mira was already anxious, on the verge of breaking down in tears by the look of it. The lights of the city off in the distance were still enough cast her downcast face into shadow.

On the other hand, the burning sensation that was swelling up inside her now couldn't be denied any more than it could be hidden. Reaching out with every last erg of the the self-control she had developed over the last two months avoiding letting her anger master her, she managed to make her words sound merely cold, not accusing.

"You helped him to stowaway on our ship."

Mira nodded in the purest of misery, obviously regretting her action. "Yes."

"Even though I _said_ we shouldn't let him in here."

"Yes."

"Even though this is probably going to lead to him blabbing everything to Niyo- to his friend."

"Yes."

"I will not 'blab'", Noel cut in, stepping forward as if to protect Mira. "Tsuru-"

" _Saber_ ", Aiko cut him off more harshly than she'd wanted to. "We _don't_ use our real names here. Ever. You know the reason for _that_ , at least."

"I do", Noel nodded remorsefully. "I know more than you think, actually-"

"So you saw some more visions of this place when you were sleeping?", Julian asked scornfully, arms folded in front of him. He'd been just as incensed as Aiko at this sudden discovery, and unlike her, he'd had far less practice at concealing his anger. "Dude, this place ain't some kinda tourist destination. We're not a freakin' cruise liner! It's _dangerous_ , even for us."

"Perhaps you don't fully understand the damage that you have caused, lad", Pelagio chipped in more reservedly. "We cannot bring you along with us, nor can we simply leave you behind to perish. Therefore, the only option we have left is to return you to the gate. Thus, we are forced to waste an entire-"

" _No_ ", Aiko jumped in, eyes narrowing before glancing back at Mira. "No. We can't just flush down an entire day because of this... problem. We won't get another chance at it until Tuesday at the earliest. With how big this place is, we can't afford to dally."

"What then?", Jiachi asked her helplessly. "If we can't bring him with us and we can't leave him..."

"We can leave him", she decided, desperately trying to send Mira an apology through her eyes as she spoke. "We can leave him with a guard. Shadows don't come out here very often anyway, and if they do decide to rush this area they can just use the Breach to escape."

Jiachi fell silent at the idea. They all did, until Pelagio turned to her. "I see. Who shall be our 'guard' then?"

Knowing before opening her mouth that this would be internal pain for hours if not days, Aiko sighed, mouthing the word she wanted to say. _Sorry._ "Dancer will be the guard. The rest of us can go on ahead and locate Kaneshi- the Land's ruler."

"Dancer?" Pelagio's surprised tone made it clear that he'd been expected to be chosen. "We shall proceed without healing support, captain?"

"I have some Personas with healing skills", she reminded him, trying not to look at Mira and see the hurt in her. "And we have a good amount of supplies too. That's my decision, Guardian."

"So it is", Pelagio agreed.

"Ai-ch-", Mira flustered, tried to make sound come through her throat. "Saber, I..."

"Your captain gave you an order", she said simply, unable to look back at her any more, instead casting her eyes on the trench. "Please follow it. Stay here. Protect him. If the Shadows get too restless, go into the Breach and shoot some lightning into the air so we can spot it. Do you understand?"

Her response sounded equally cold. Dead. "...Yes. I understand, captain. And I... I didn't mean to... I never... captain...!"

"Later", Aiko commanded, not able or willing to leave it like that between them. Noel, at least, seemed to recognize that by the gratitude shining in his eyes. "We can talk about it some more later. Right now we have a job to do, and longer we wait, the harder it gets."

"So you really are trying to save the ruler of this Land", Noel remarked in something like awe. "Please, don't allow my presence to hamper you-"

"Hmph. Your presence has already hampered us, lad", Pelagio shot back acidly. "Whether or not we 'allowed' it to is no longer a decision for us to make. _That_ was taken off the table as soon as Dancer chose to aid you against our captain's specific wishes. I hope that she understands that, even if _you_ do not."

The way he said 'you' erasing any pre-concieved notions of camaraderie between them, Noel drew silent again, truly taking in the beak and visor of Pelagio's intimidating armored form for the first time. While all the others had learned to view him as a valued and loyal comrade, there was no question that Pelagio could also be just as terrifying as a Shadow if he wanted to.

"...Alright. I will remain here, then."

Looking back at Mira one last time proved too difficult after all, so Aiko merely walked to the trench and leaped. She was gone before the words reached her.

" _I'm sorry."_

* * *

None of the trio spoke much as they made their way out of the Breach and into the ashen streets of Kaneshiro's Land. There was nothing but the occasional verbal command, with no commentary following as had become their norm.

Just silence.

Maybe silence was better, Aiko considered. For a long stretch, there was nothing else to consider but planning out their path up to the top of a building by leaping from balcony to balcony, the wind created by that action rushing through her and blocking out all other consideration.

It was only when they reached the top balcony that she realized that she would inevitably have to vent at some point, and waited for her remaining allies to join her there, absently staring out across a canyon of steel and glass.

"Why?" The question came out as a strangled whisper. "What is _wrong_ with her?!"

Jiachi looked doubtful. "You really sure you want my opinion on that?"

Pelagio seemed equally nonplussed, but paradoxically, less likely to withhold his own thoughts on the issue than Julian was around her. "Hmph. I have said that Dancer can be soft-hearted. She felt a great swell of pity for the lad. She wished that he could learn the truth of the girl's fate, and thus ease his torment."

"By putting his life at risk", Aiko snarled into the driving wind. "By putting _all of us_ at risk during an important mission that had nothing to do with him!"

Sensing her stare shifting over to him next, Jiachi shuffled uncomfortably. "Because... Because she knows that you'll forgive her. Maybe not now, but you will later."

Her gaze tightened. "Oh? And what makes you so sure of that, Gunslinger?"

Julian spread his arms helplessly. "Because you have to. Come on now. You two are dorm mates, and I'm pretty sure you're besties on top of that. You _can't_ stay mad at her forever, Saber. Not when she's so eager to make up with you."

The hard truth in his words only made her scowl again, illogically wishing that she really _could_ stay mad at Mira for longer, however long it took so that she would never even _think_ about repeating this mistake. "I... I don't want her to think she can just get away with doing something like that behind our backs."

"Who said she thought that? You saw yourself how broken up she was, when she saw that look your face." He gestured off across the skyline in the general direction of the harbor. "Back there right now? She's punishing herself way worse than anything you could possibly do to her."

Aiko made a face. "Yeah. Thanks. That's just what I wanted to hear."

Jiachi shrugged innocently. "Hey, you asked, I answered. Maybe it's better this way. Dude doesn't have to spend the rest of his life wonderin' about that."

"If he asks for us to take him back in after today, we say _no_. Got it? This world is too dangerous for sightseeing."

"Don't have to tell me twice", he agreed. Flinched away from a sudden surge of encroaching light. "Hey, we got incoming. Better hide."

Now that they knew how the Shadows of this Land identified and attacked their prey, evading the lights wasn't so difficult if they paid attention. Sloping arches of mortar and brick could easily serve as cover until the danger passed, and it was during one of these somewhat tedious sessions of hiding and waiting that Aiko was finally able to peer closely into one of the building's many windows.

The room inside looked insultingly normal, utterly interchangeable with any of a hundred thousand Tokyo condos and homes. She spotted a fridge, a table with chairs and counter top, all of them lightly decorated and showing signs of use. Amused, she was about to turn away when she saw movement at the door.

The people emerging into the room and opening up the fridge reminded her of the cognitions from Mira's Land. If anything, they looked even more normal, wearing typical shirts and pants instead of the retro-futuristic chic from the technological forest, but where she saw the resemblance was just how disarmingly _happy_ they all looked. A mother, a father preparing dinner, and two energetic kids looking around eight years, all of them just moving around and chatting normally. The way she'd always imagined a 'normal' family to be like.

"I found the cognitions", she noted to the others, drawing Jiachi's equally fascinated gaze to the glass. "They shouldn't get in our way."

"Not until we go into one of the buildings to find Kaneshiro", he pointed out, unable to take his eyes away from the sight. They were even eating real food at the table, or at least it looked real enough from here.

For a moment no longer caring about the delay, Aiko withdrew from that window to press her face into the opposite one. This one too was a simple room that could have been transplanted from Tokyo or any other city. A quiet room with a crib and chair where a tall mother was hugging a baby to her chest, rocking them to sleep. "Is this... for real?"

"Hmph. Of course not", Pelagio pointed out briskly. He'd only taken a single glance at the windows before moving on. "You said it yourself, captain. This is a Land of Dreams. An ideal world fabricated to keep someone's soul content so they remain there. These cognitions are merely acting on the ruler's desires."

 _And the ruler's desires are for them to live normal, happy lives while Shadows prowl the streets outside,_ she considered, for once at a loss for what it meant. Mira and Julian's cognitions had been designed as fountains of endless adulation for their respective rulers, more living props than actual human beings. Whether through deliberate ignorance or thick glass, none of the people inside the building took notice that they were being spied on.

"The zeppelin has passed us", Pelagio announced with just a touch of impatience, gesturing with a steel talon. "If we traverse the line to that roof, we should be able to reach the heart of the city."

"R-right", she agreed shakily. The cognitions didn't matter, she told herself. They were just another part of this place, as much as the Shadows were. When Kaneshiro was returned home to the real world, they would cease to be of any relevance. "Let's do it then. I'll go first."

Another memory from Mira's Land awakened in her then- the precarious, terrifying journey across a narrow line unsuited to support passengers, strings of silver rings crossing over a gaping canyon that would more than likely result in death if they fell. Certainly, their Personas made them all much physically tougher, often never showing any kind of injury until they were very nearly depleted, but there were always limits to that effect. She didn't feel much like testing them.

At least this time, there were no holograms or robots around to distract them. Only the sound of rain, wind and other vacant city noises. A city whose citizens never went outside, but whose Shadow enforcers knew how to make a ruckus when they were disturbed.

Luckily, they weren't yet. All three of her team made it to the next rain-slicked rooftop without issue, dashing along its stretch to the next railing.

At least, the next railing was within Aiko's sight until something swift and hard struck her in the side, leaving her dazed and struggling to stand up properly. _Who? A Shadow? Didn't see them on the way over- oh._

The figure's matte black coloring explained how it had been able to hide away in the eternal chiaroscuro of the city, waiting to strike from the sickly shade of a roof vent with bone-cracking force. The attacker's shape remained not only humanoid like some of the more powerful Shadows here seemed to be, but human-sized. A glossy, featureless mask complimented the darkness of his garb, but Pelagio wasted no time in announcing his name:

" _Hex."_

"No way!", Julian remarked, spinning his weapons out of their holsters as he spoke. "The hell's _he_ doing in here? Maybe he's a Persona-user like us?"

Whatever the real answer, Hex didn't seem to care. He took a moment to watch Aiko struggle back to her feet before replying with a harsh, buzzing voice that had frightened hundreds of young would-be Yakuza. "Drop your weapons and come with me. Final warning."

Aiko could sense the resistance apparent in the other two without needing to ask. They might have complied, if she'd ordered it... But she wasn't in the mood to surrender so easily either. _This could be a cognition, or a Shadow, or both. Same answer either way._

"You're outnumbered", she called back, drawing her cutlass. "Leave now, and we can avoid a fight that none of us want."

Then, the laughter. Hex's grisly, buzzing voice wasn't very good at it, but it was unmistakable all the same. Wan, bitter laughter. "You don't know me very well, do you? Besides, you're working for Joker. Don't deny it, all the signs are there. So there's only two options here. Talk, or suffer."

"We choose", Julian countered, bringing both his revolvers up to take aim. "To make you suffer."

Standing just a pace behind and to the left of him after she'd fallen, Aiko was in the best position to see her friend's shots flying out towards Hex, a spray of fire that had reduced many Shadows to smoking embers.

Not this one. In the same moment, Hex was blasting towards them, legs nearly a blur illuminated by the few shots that struck bouncing off some kind of extra-strength kevlar. In the time it took for Gunslinger to recognize this, the masked vigilante was already up in his face, driving a fist beneath the pistol barrels and into his gut.

At the ready, Aiko ignored her initial impulse and focused her mind instead. "Fly, _High Pixie_!"

The new Persona, which she had fused only a few days prior in the Velvet room, appeared from above without any of the difficulty she had encountered during their last visit to this Land. Similar-looking to the weaker 'Pixie' Shadows she had encountered elsewhere in Faraway Lands, this one had a larger gossamer wingspan, wearing a gleaming silver chest plate and dark purple gloves in lieu of the blue leotard normal Pixies always wore. Pale blue hair styled into a crown of short spikes replaced curly red hair, but most important of all was what couldn't immediately be seen- the difference in power between a Pixie and this one.

" _Diarama_ ", she directed the promised powerful healing skill towards Julian before his knees could hit the roof, a radiant glow covering and erasing most of the damage in one stroke. At the same time, Pelagio and Galahad's blade struck from the side, caught and deflected by a spin kick before Hex could slide out of the immediate danger zone. Once he had, a sharp hiss rang out. While spotting the exact means took too long, the end was obvious as soon as she noticed the billowing cloud covering the other side of the roof and blotting out the rest in short order.

"Smoke bomb", she noted, not quite able to ignore the fascination that came with such a strange tool being used against them. "Neato."

She had a few breaths to marvel before a surprise attack took the wind out of her, nearly knocking her off the roof entirely. Julian didn't dare fire his guns now that they could no longer see each other, guided only by the much less precise sounds of her being punched and kicked again and again, the professional barrage only stopping when she brandished her cutlass around in a circle, a delaying motion designed to give her a chance to focus.

" _Mazan!"_

The storm of green wind that Mira was normally the one to conjure blew in, carrying the smoke cloud away with it so that Hex's next charge wasn't nearly as much of a surprise... though at that kind of running speed it still felt like she'd barely gotten her weapon up in time to parry. That flagging guard was reinforced by Pelagio's shield spell, _Praesi_ , forcing her attacker to retreat again.

"Ugh... We're not your enemies!", she called out to the shadowy corner she'd seen Hex disappear into. The Diarama skill healed most of her wounds, but the memory of the sheer blinding ferocity of the attack remained, almost as potent as the real thing. "You're trying to stop the Masked Circle, right? So are we!"

Silence shrouded the rooftop, and even when the reply finally came, it seemed to radiate out from everywhere at once, impossible to pinpoint. "The Masked Circle is another world. The scourge of this one is _Joker_. Along with all you wretched criminals who threaten the innocent, and defy justice. This is my world to protect now."

She had no time to respond before something small and tiny came flying out of nowhere to strike Pelagio. Only when he doubled over could she see it was some kind of slender dart buried in his neck, only piercing the armor's nape but enough to put the avian knight into a deep slumber. With his weight, he would have rolled all the way off the roof if Julian hadn't rushed in and grabbed him.

That was the opening Hex had been waiting for, unleashing another smoke bomb before charging in and kicking him away before he could get his weapons up. Reeling for a moment, he tried to fight back only to be swiftly countered with each attempt, his frustration ending with a quick chop to the back of his neck.

Blowing the smoke away a second time, Aiko stared at her allies' defeat with a mix of admiration and horror. Whether this was the real human Hex, or some cognition or Shadow, he possessed a speed and fighting skill she'd never seen outside of martial arts movies, and only a few of those exceeded what she was seeing. "Okay", she grunted, trying to force a guttural confidence into her words. "So you're fast. Let's try this then... Arise, Tam Lin!"

Hex took no notice of the figure of the elfin swordsman materializing before them. Regardless of what Persona was chosen, the enemy's strategy would remain the same; fast, hard-driving punches and kicks thrown in flowing combinations that suggested high expertise. With the addition of the Sukukaja skill, Aiko found she was able to keep up, blocking the punches and dodging the kicks until she realized that every dodge was deliberately bringing her a bit closer to a brick wall.

Whirling away from a strike that would have taken her in the sword arm, she dug the blade into the roof's motley shingle work. "No, thanks." Pulling the metal out again into a slash made an awful scraping noise, along with a shower of sparks that flew into Hex's face, only prevented from reaching his eyes by the black pentagram mask.

It was still enough to obscure the vigilante's vision and slow him down, providing an opening for a magical assault: " _Aques!"_

Unfamiliar with the skill, Hex was caught off guard when a serrated fish's maw of water rose up as though the roof were its domain, catching and blasting him backwards into a railing. When he tried to rise, a smattering of tiny blue detonations prevented it- Pelagio, having woken up from a brief enforced nap.

"Enough of this foolishness!", he snarled, throwing his protection-boosting Rakukaja skill on as well to be safe. "We are not the allies of this Joker whom you despise! We only seek this Land's ruler!"

Not deterred by words or actions, Hex released a pair of hexagon-shaped discs, spinning through the air to no doubt do something much worse than simple impact until they were intercepted by a rising wall of water- the Malaqua skill. To punctuate the statement, Julian leaped up onto the brick wall training both barrels on the enemy.

"Water control", Hex observed, sounding strangely calm for someone outnumbered and, as far as Aiko was concerned, outmatched. "What... You can't be...?"

They had half a second to ponder that statement before light blanketed the area, casting every figure and piece of the roof into sharp relief, the sound blaring out of the overhead zeppelin somehow even louder than before. "HALT, CRIMINALS! SURRENDER TO JUSTICE!"

"Shit!", Julian shouted, shattering the searchlight before changing targets to the Shadows already being lowered down on ropes towards them. "Got so busy with this d-bag we forgot about this! Get clear!"

"To the other side!", Pelagio agreed just as urgently. "We can form a line there, use the roof's shape to our advantage!"

Taking only a moment to register through all the noise and confusion that Hex had disappeared, Aiko followed the others, noting with some hope that the horde of Shadows being dropped onto the building as living cargo before twitching madly and exploding into their true shape was actually a bit smaller than the army they'd been faced with last time. The headless knights and bulbous-headed shamans from before had come, and were aided by small floating creatures wearing dark blue witches hats and cowls, bearing old-fashioned lanterns. Most strikingly, their heads were enormous pumpkins, eyes glowing with flame.

"What _is_ it about this place", Jiachi quipped as he took aim at the front. "And Shadows having weird heads? Oh well, shouldn't complain. Just bigger targets is all."

"Yes", Aiko agreed halfheartedly. "Don't use your fire on them though. I've seen that type before; 'Pyro Jack'. They absorb it. Not this though... _Mabufu!"_

The resulting wave of ice did as she'd expected, chilling the masked shamans in front rank of the Shadows and eradicating several of the floating Jacks altogether, eliminating the threat they posed in a confined space like this. Instead, the headless knights made their charge ahead, ignoring both the volley of bullets and Pelagio's Mafrei spell to engage directly, the remaining shamans supporting them from the rear.

Deflecting one such knight's blade with hers, Aiko carefully aimed the flintlock down at the Shadow's boot, not causing any major damage with the shot, but knocking the enemy off balance long enough to swipe the cutlass through the other leg, toppling the enemy over the rail with a mournful howl. _Just like with Bifrons, except I didn't need any help this time._

After several such encounters she had lost track of where her allies were in the crowded melee, and breathed a sigh of relief when the remaining Shadows began to pull back. A sigh of relief that transformed into a curse when she saw the real reason for it.

Just as before, the leader of this pack was easy to identify even if it had not been visually distinct from the others by the cautious way they parted to let the creature through. Like the previous pack leader it was tall and humanoid, but clad in a form-fitting, dark violet suit decorated with clownish frills at the neck and covering its curvy white boots.

A white line serpentined its way up the costume's right leg, ending at a skull on the chest. Following what did indeed seem to be the tradition of this Land, the head was completely covered in white cloth, bearing only a squiggly red line rising up into something like an enclosed question mark over the face.

More important to all of them was the wicked-looking ornamental scythe clutched in the leader's white gloves, which it brandished as though it were a mere baton.

"Praesi on me", Aiko commanded, shifting Personas without too much hesitation. "I'll take him."

"Alone?" Pelagio sounded more than strained.

"Need you waiting ready in case the other ones decide to sneak attack", she explained. "Just support for now. Too dangerous to transform here."

"I can do that", Julian protested. "If this guy's anything like Coralface Mcbarnacle from last time-"

"I'll get him", she affirmed without rancor. "Support and stand ready."

"Understood... captain."

The scythe-bearing Shadow said nothing as they closed, gave no sign of confidence or reprimand or anything, its feelings as much of a question mark as its face. Its skills were certainly not in question at least, flashing its weapon around with trained ease to block her opening pistol shot before twirling it back into a complete spin.

She was already through the gathering power of the enemy skill before recognizing the massive grinning skull of darkness as an upgraded form of the _Mudo_ skill which had taken Pelagio down once, driving her blade beneath the creature's downswing and into the skull mark on the chest, cutting across into a roll and out the other side before the enemy could re-balance his weapon and the blade back. "Scary weapon", she remarked without knowing why. "Awkward to use though, unless you're threshing wheat. You're no Reaper."

The Shadow leader gave no response it had even heard her, sending the scythe spinning back across to smack her with the blunt end. Another complete circle of the weapon generated a new spell, this one dumping a formless torrent of unwholesome-feeling curse energy down on her which she knew would have hurt a great deal more if not for Pelagio's protective enhancements. Instead, it merely felt like an extremely hard-driving rain fighting to push her off the roof.

 _Too bad I won't be able to get him to fall off like I did that knight,_ she noted regretfully. _He's way too agile for that. Have to get more good hits in._ Luckily, the other Shadows seemed to be keeping their distance for now, either afraid of her or of their superior's wrath.

" _Aques_ ", she repeated the water skill from before, charging in without waiting to see if it had worked. The shark's maw and subsequent buffeting water was certainly enough to distract the opponent, keeping his weapon held upward as she ducked beneath to slash across the other side this time-

And stopped dead in her tracks. Stared. The blade was buried just as deeply as before, but now it wasn't moving. In the time it took to pull it loose, the blunt end of the scythe came down again.

The next thing she was aware of was a ringing sensation between her ears, accompanied by an aching pain running through her skull and jaw. _That... was lighter the last..._

She couldn't focus enough to form an inquiry about why the second hit had been so much worse than the first- or why her sword had suddenly stopped working- before the third hit nearly made her black out completely for a moment. Squinting to force the black away, she raised her other hand. " _Aques!"_

The Shadow recognized the move, bracing silently for an attack. It seemed just as surprised as everyone else when nothing happened.

"No", Aiko whispered, staring at her empty glove in despair. "No, no, NO! Not again! _Tam Lin!_ _Lorelei! High Pixie! Come!"_

 _Nothing._ Neither of the named Personas responded to her call, and now the enemy Shadow was on her, wielding its weapon against someone who had only moments ago been a trained Persona-user, but was now nothing but a human with a cutlass and a pistol. Without Tarukaja or Sukukaja, without a Persona to bolster her speed and strength and damage resistance, she was completely helpless against any Shadow.

"Captain!"

"Saber! _NO!"_

The curving blade swept across her this time, prevented from actually cutting flesh by a last-second roll. Still it hurt more than she could describe, and there was the familiar tingling sensation left behind in the furrow. _And of course his scythe just had to be poisoned as well. Perfect._

Becoming dimly aware that the Shadows that had been hanging off the flanks were now rushing in response to Jiachi and Pelagio doing the same, she found herself sitting down, legs splayed out in front of her in an undignified position that she didn't think had anything to do with the poison now coursing through her system, racking her body with agony from every breath.

She just didn't know what to do.

She knew that the others would still listen to her orders, but she didn't know what orders to give. Fight? A lost cause now- without her they were outnumbered ten to one. Retreat? Not while she was incapable of walking.

She had come no closer to an answer when the Shadow leader decided to take the luxury of decision away from her. In one quick blink, the scythe flashed out and carved through the roof behind her, leaving behind a shroud of purple haze rising from the wound.

"Back." The word rose from her before she fully comprehended the command. "Get back!"

She wasn't sure if they'd heard her over the noise of combat, not until she heard Pelagio's response. "What?! No! We cannot leave you, captain!"

So easy.

It amazed her, more than anything else that had happened today, just how easy it was. It was a command she never thought she would give, yet her body, which had been trembling with agitation since the moment her Personas had stopped working, seemed to be calmed by it until even the fevers caused by the poison were reduced to mere background noise.

It felt like everything was going to be alright.

"Go", she pleaded. "They want to... capture not... kill."

"Like hell!", Jiachi shouted back. Even he could count however, and realize that if the white-masked Shadow joined in their chances of surviving the next minute were too small to calculate. "We can't!"

"Please..."

Again, as if sensing their indecision and looking to take that away, the scythe-bearer swung in the same spot, creating a miasma-filled trench in the roof that neither side dared to cross.

"Captain!"

"Please..."

"Saber!"

" _Go_ ", she whispered, her voice sounding like wet leaves rustling. "Tell... Dancer."

They no longer needed words to convey their fear, and for a moment she felt that fear racing through her as well.

What if she was wrong? What if they were going to kill her now?

The chill lasted until the white-masked Shadow looming over her gave a small, quiet nod. For a moment, they understood each other.

"Go", she repeated breathlessly, sounding almost as if she was honoring an agreement. "Go now! Go..."

* * *

"What have I done?", Mira asked, her voice lost and afraid.

She'd been able to hold on this long before breaking- she estimated roughly an hour had passed since the others had departed. Desperate to prevent Noel's curiosity from causing any further issues, she had forced them into a side area blocked by a shipping crate.

Her apprehension had failed to draw any Shadows to them so far, but she made sure to always be standing in a way so that her gaze went past a sitting Noel to the sole entrance to their cul de sac. Instead, she'd been left behind with the memory of the look on Aiko's face to smolder and break down the initial hopefulness that had brought her to this 'treason' in the first place. _Truly I am Akechi Mitsuhide._

"You have followed the kindness in your heart", Noel told her plainly. "My desire was to behold you in this world, to confirm for myself what I had begun to suspect. You have granted me that desire, even risking the ire of Tsuru-"

" _Saber."_ Her interjection was nearly a shriek.

"Of your friend", he finished, lightly tapping his red sketchbook cover. "For this, I am indebted to you. And I can say with certainty that you have only done something that... that Saber was afraid to due to the potential risks."

Considering his words, Mira sighed. "And _that's_ what really makes me wonder what's wrong with me, if I have become _wazima_. Saber and Gunslinger are the big risk-takers on this team. Not me. It wasn't that long ago that I screamed at Gunslinger for doing something like that without me."

Halted by that realization, Noel leaned to the side placing his chin onto a clasped hand, considering how stressful their lives might have been for the last two months. _"Naturlich, verstehe ich_. Sometimes, our most powerful emotions arise when we worry about those dearest to us coming to harm."

 _Dearest to us._ Mira moaned and placed her head in her hands. "My heart only ever gets me in trouble."

"In temporary trouble", he amended. "If your friendship is true, then she will forgive you." He shrugged innocently. "Niyoga has forgiven me for similar transgressions before. But the good that you achieved with this risk... it will remain."

"The good?", she asked, her confusion genuine. She couldn't even remember the exact reason she had done it any more. Her brain felt numbed. _What good?_

Gently, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder, he gestured with his other to the dark skyline above them. "You have shown to me the truth of this world, Sora- I mean, Dancer. The truth of what happened to Furusato. In return, I would wish to aid you and the others in their goals in whatever way I can."

"You want to join us?" Mira frowned. "But... you _can't!_ You can't fight Shadows. I mean, I've heard the rumors about you at school. You never fight anybody. You took some kind of vow never to hurt anyone, right?"

"At the Berlin Cathedral in my homeland, yes", he confirmed distantly, as though the matter were meaningless. " _Estens, schade nicht._ "

"And even if you hadn't", Mira continued furtively, "you need a Persona to fight Shadows. A normal human can't possibly stand up to them. Sorry, but I have to refuse."

He looked dismayed by her answer, but this time Mira knew her resolve was correct and unwavering. "Ah, I see. I must apologize. I haven't yet told you everything that happened to me since the time of Furusato-san's death. I did not come to this world purely for her. Let me ex- hm?!"

Too late, Mira realized that she'd been so absorbed in Noel's words and his offer that she'd neglected to watch the entryway. It wasn't a Shadow standing there, but it looked nearly as hostile. Julian had placed himself in the entry with Pelagio marching in just behind him, both of them injured and panting in a way that Mira didn't like at all.

"Saber", Jiachi rasped, looking on the outside as Mira felt on the inside. Like he was about to cry. "They... they got her."

 _What have I done?_

* * *

 _It hurts._

She couldn't remember exactly when she'd blacked out, or what the last sensation she'd felt was. If the scythe-bearing Shadow had gone back on his word after the fact, or Julian and Pelagio had lost control and charged to their deaths, she would not know.

That was the pain, the hurt which made Aiko uneasy. It wasn't the black cables knotted around her wrists and feet, or seeing her weapons and supplies stashed off in a cubbyhole across the way, or the realization that she had no idea where exactly they were any longer. The room was covered in carpet and cushions that gave no indicator if they were high up or in some secret basement.

 _Hurts._

Near complete darkness shrouded her, dulling sensation until it felt like she was still half asleep. The slow creak of a door and artificial light blasting into her eyes changed that, focusing her eyes on the two new arrivals before her.

One was easy to recognize. It was the tall scythe-bearer, whose question-marked face gave a nod identical to the one from before. Silent confirmation, she knew, that the others had gotten away safely.

That alone was enough to dull the hurt, to make relief sing along her nerves and enforce the resolve not to give in here. If Pelagio, Jiachi, and Mira were safe, then nothing else mattered. _If they're safe, then my pain means nothing._

"It will", the other figure spoke up suddenly, drawing her attention back to the now. "I promise you, it will mean much to you."

It took much longer to take in the entirety of the new one. A statuesque woman dressed in a disturbingly tight black bodice and spiked choker, a ball gown flaring out at the bottom covering all the way down to a pair of tall heels. Equally dark hair streamed down along her back as a thin mane, braided along the top corners with several long metal pins sticking out of the main bun as if the pagan witch doctors of old had groomed her.

But all of this detail faded into nothing when she saw the Shadow's face. She knew it to be a Shadow by the familiar acid yellow of her eyes, and knew the woman to be the ruler of the Land by the way the masked Shadow deferred to her, hovering at a safe distance, devout without being obsequious. Numerous tattoo lines as black as her lipstick randomly wound and twisted their way along that face without any apparent pattern, but even they couldn't conceal the truth.

The truth was, she _knew_ that face.

"R-Reiha...?", she managed, weakness slurring her words until she tried again. "Hayato-san? Tawa?"

The lady in the black dress studied her closely, the initial smile she'd brought in with her tapering off. Her voice, even with the standard reverb, bore none of the malice Aiko had come to expect from this type of Shadow. "My name is Kaneshiro. _Mistress_ Kaneshiro. What's more important, right now, is that we learn who _you_ are."

Bewildered, still halfway into delirium, she blinked in confusion. "Wh-what? You don't know me? I'm-"

"I know what you call yourself", the Shadow snapped, her arms folded like a disappointed teacher. "Yet, we still don't know _who you are_. Don't worry. Your pain will teach us."

It only occurred to her then that the scythe-bearing Shadow wasn't carrying his signature weapon. Instead, the pole ended in a spiraling tip. A thin tip glowing with heat that was beginning to get uncomfortably close to her suspended left arm, where the sleeve of her outfit had been torn away...

"Pain is the ultimate teacher", the Shadow ruler claimed without even a hint of malice. "It is the law of my Land."

"My pain means nothing", Aiko spoke her earlier thoughts with as much energy as she could muster, hoping it sounded more confident that way. "Absolutely nothing."

The woman- Kaneshiro, Hayato, whoever she truly was- actually looked sad at the suggestion, burning yellow flames boring into her before the pole could. "Young one... I'm afraid you're terribly mistaken. As you will soon learn... Pain is the only thing in this world- or any world- with any real meaning at all."

* * *

Enemy Profile #12: _Pyro Jack_

Arcana: Magician

Strength: Fire

Weakness: Ice, Water, Wind

Abilities: Agi, Maragi, Tarunda

Background: English fairy resembling a jack-o'-lantern. It is a prank-loving fairy that's also called a Will-o'-the-Wisp. It was originally a human named Jack. But because of his constant pranks on demons, his soul was cursed to roam.

* * *

Persona Profile #9: _High Pixie_

Arcana: Fool

Strength: Lightning, Wind

Weakness: Gun, Nuclear

Abilities: Zan, Media, Diarama, Taunt, Mazan

Background: High ranking pixies who act as leaders or commanders of the younger pixies. Generally, a charismatic pixie can obtain this rank from proving its skill and loyalty. They watch over the younger pixies as guardians, and ensure they are kept out of danger, although they are every bit as mischievous as their younger counterparts.

* * *

A/N: Sad to see Crimson's going on hiatus now, and though I'll try and make up for it I am currently fresh on the job hunt now as well. Hope you enjoy.


	38. The Mender

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _I Won't Be Let Down_

 _I'll Just Keep On Rising_

 _Failure Ever Fading_

 _Growth In Every Pain_

* * *

4/14 Sunday (Two Months Ago)

Afternoon

Distantly, as if gradually rising out of a trance, Noel Vitienne realized that his mouth was hanging wide open.

Exactly how long it had been wasn't something that came to mind. Awareness of self, awareness of time... it had all become lost when a barrage of realizations had struck him like a sequence of well-timed punches.

 _This is real. This is not an illusion, or a hallucination._

 _This is a place that couldn't possibly exist on Earth._

 _And yet, here it is._

 _Therefore, we are not on Earth._

 _Then, where are we? Heaven? Or..._

Cecille Yumika maintained her previously offered courtesy, keeping a fair distance and letting him soak in every bit of the bizarre place she had brought him to. Suspended in the middle of a oily black sea that somehow reflected stars that were not visible in the sky, the island looked like a Japanese feudal festival expanded over several dozen square miles. Pagoda architecture that had to be carefully preserved in modern times or else built from scratch in order to invoke cultural nostalgia in an otherwise modern city sprawled in every direction, upraised red gates and railings leading through a myriad kingdom from a forgotten age, culminating with the enormous sloping castle at its peak.

The more that he looked around, the more things appeared for his frantic mind to process. Not only the architecture, but the men, women and children there, all of them dressed up to match the part in a way no mere cosplay session could ever hope to match. Classical lanterns bobbed down from the roof corners, illuminating sliding screens that concealed entrances to rooms clad in mats, while banners adorned with archaic Nipponese iconography drifted on a brisk wind.

The last main element, the steady patrols of tall armored and masked samurai, he had at least managed to remember to far stay away from.

"I know how you're feeling", the ice-haired woman said beside him, trying to snap him out of his daze. "I remember back when I first saw it. I pretty much reacted the same way you did."

He idly wondered if he might have stood in astonished silence forever if she hadn't spoken up, then forcefully turned away from the lights and colors and _people_. "What... what _is_ it?"

Casually flicking one of her diamond earrings, Cecille shrugged. "Would you believe me if I said we don't really know for sure? We caught a traveler here once who said this place is called Faraway Lands. But that's just a name. It doesn't tell us anything. What it _is_ , if my source is correct, is a world formed by humanity's collective subconscious desires."

"Collective subconscious?"

"Yeah see, I don't completely get it either", she admitted, staring up at the argent-stained sky. "I'd say that Lady Scorpio could tell you more about it, but you don't _want_ to talk to her. Trust me. It might be the last thing you ever do as a free, sane man."

"Lady Scorpio?" He knew that this routine of blank questions was quickly wearing thin, but there was no helping it now. Despite their various differences, when it came to curiosity he was very much like his friend Shukiji. There were things about this place he simply had to know before he rested. "Who is she?"

Cecille scowled, waving a hand in dismissal. "I told you. Someone you don't ever want to meet in person. And I'll thank you for not asking any more questions about that crazy bitch."

Momentarily thrown by the touch of biting anger just as strong as her wrath towards her own older brother, Principal Tetsuo Yumika, he paused to consider what else to ask. "So all of this is... made by humans?"

"Close", she nodded. "By just one human, actually. It's the world of his dreams. When people come in here for the first time without a guide, this dimension creates a Land from their hidden thoughts for them to rule over, so they will remain there. That's why I said we need to stay near the gate, and not go too far in. Those samurai guys aren't just for show, you know."

"B-but the people here..."

"Those _aren't_ people", Cecille corrected him sternly. "Not in the way that you think anyway. They're 'conceptions'. People from the ruler's life changed to meet his desires for them. To explain it better, they're kind of like his window dressing to make the place feel more authentic, run through the filter of his private wishes and memories."

Despite her harsh words, Noel studied the various kimono-garbed citizens, trying to grasp what she meant. They certainly seemed authentic enough, even having conversations with each other in some obscure, fluent dialect which he could only grasp word in twenty.

"Don't try to talk to them", she advised him right before he could ask, putting an arm out in front of him. "You sound like you've been studying well enough, but your use of Japanese isn't very good and theirs is... well... ancient. Even _I'm_ having some trouble following it, and I've lived in Japan for most of my life. You'd probably get Shadows called down on you on suspicion before you got a sentence out."

"Shadows...?"

"The samurai guards", she explained, gesturing. "Their armor and masks disguise something much more dangerous inside. Don't mess with them either. They serve the Shogun's whims, and he'd probably execute you for a laugh. This might be a dream world, but dying here is still the same as dying anywhere else... or at least that what we know. I'm not eager to check."

Catching sight of several solemn black sword hilts at the belt of each guard, a pristine katana sheathed within each, he nodded. "I see. It seems a shame for us not to be able to enjoy such grandeur up close, but never worth risking one's life."

"Because it's not for us", Cecille nodded back, glad to see he appreciated the potential danger they were in. "It's for the ruler of the Land. A whole world for him to live out his deepest fantasies in."

Stepping back from it, Noel frowned. "You keep on saying 'him'. Do you know this Shogun?"

At last, exasperation began to creep into her tone. "No, but come on. Do you really think that a woman living in our time would long for a feudal-age kingdom like this one? It's got to be a guy. A guy who apparently loves this kind of stuff. I've met a few like him, old men always going on about the 'good old days'. Beh."

Since their meeting at the hospital in Tosashimizu city, Noel had begun to realize that there were quite a number of things in the world that earned Cecille Yumika's ire, a very different mood compared to how mild-mannered their bespectacled principal usually was.

In this particular case, her feeling on the topic on discussion was shared. "My family back home, the noble household of Vitienne... They are somewhat known for glorifying the distant past as well. Or at least, my grandfather and a few of my extended family. They are... well, were... members of a certain collaboration that they call 'The Last Battalion'."

For once, he'd actually managed to impress Cecille instead of the other way around. Or at least, shock her, making her azure blue pupils widen behind the tiny square lenses of her own glasses. "Oh. _Oh._ Oh my God. Seriously? They're actually... _wow_. No wonder you wanted to go live somewhere else."

"Grandfather provides for us all", he said defensively, not wanting her to get the wrong idea about him. "While we disagreed on a great many things- such as anything and everything pertaining to that particular group- I must respect the great generosity that he has shown to me, and my mother and... the rest, even if I cannot respect his opinions on certain matters. He is not the reason I left. At least, not the entire reason. _Blut ist dicker."_

"If you say so", she shrugged. "Just because they're family doesn't make them immune to criticism in my book."

"Nor mine", he agreed glumly, idly tapping the sketchbook in his pocket. "I've never told anyone else outside of my family this. I figure it only fair, since you've now shared this great secret with me."

"Thanks. It was nice for you to do the talking for a while", Cecille considered, "but this isn't the place for that. I just wanted you to see it for yourself."

"Why?", he asked, some stray flicker of fire making his voice sound more demanding then he wanted. "Why did you bring me here, to see this strange place?"

She looked worried too. Worried that the truth might be too much to bear, but it was too late to back out now. "Because I saw just how miserable you were, sitting there in that gloomy hospital lobby. I mean, most of the people who are there have good reasons to be sad, but you... Despite what my bratty students might tell you, my heart isn't completely made of ice. I thought that if you agreed to keep this a secret, I could show you."

"Show me what?"

"Show you what happened to your girl."

Finally, the truth. It was as if the feudal kingdom he'd been so enraptured with had suddenly vanished, leaving him staring out along the horizon instead, making note of each tiny dot that represented a Land.

"One of those is hers", Cecille explained quietly. "Furusato's Land. And before you ask, no. We're _not_ going there, no matter what. Even if I knew where it was, we can't help her now. She's stuck in here permanently, mind and soul."

Naturally, his first impulse was to cry foul, to rant and rage and demand that she help him locate Ayano Furusato's Land. _So that I may finally find my answers. It's not fair. Not fair that I am to be teased with that knowledge, and unable to act on it._

But Noel had mastered his anger long ago in a past encounter, to a degree that few other boys his age could boast of. Anger was merely a distraction, and rarely useful. He made sure to turn away from her, so that any lingering resentment would not be seen on his face.

"... I understand. Of course. It's far too dangerous, and the only reward being a chance to speak to her. A tempting prize, yes. But once again, not one worth risking our lives for."

"Maybe I shouldn't have done this", Cecille groaned. "Should've figured once you knew the truth, you'd want to try to find her. Sorry. Not happening. The seas here are just as dangerous as the Lands. When we're done here, I'll be taking you right back home again."

He grimaced. The large pontoon 'disk' Cecille had brought with them into the strange gate of green light that had appeared at the Yume Bay had seemed laughable at first, but then she had demonstrated some kind of power to affect the water around them, generating impossibly swift currents that carried them to their destination. All the same, the ride had felt horrifyingly perilous on such a tiny craft, especially with how dangerous she insisted the water was to fall into.

"If I may", he requested. "I would like to make a sketch of this place. So that I can know for sure that this is all not just a dream after all."

She grinned back. "It is, in a way. Just not yours. Go ahead then, just make sure you keep your distance from the Shadows."

"A landscape then", he acknowledged, eagerly reaching for his book.

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Evening

Makoto Nijima stared out the hospital window into Tosashimizu's rain-drenched city streets.

It wasn't as though she had much in the way of other options for entertainment. The doctor had asked repeatedly if she wanted some kind of distraction between the exercises and exams, some kind of portable game or perhaps a television, but she'd surprised him by refusing. Video games had never been her thing.

Besides, she had plenty of other things to occupy her mind.

 _'Take it up with God'._

That was what Akira had told her. _I thought we had, in a fashion. What was the Holy Grail- Yaldabaoth- if not that?_

 _No. Wrong._

She and her family were the furthest thing from religious, so using others people's conceptions of 'God' was all she had to go off of. And even that loose outline was enough to make it very clear to her that while Yaldabaoth was perhaps the closest thing to that outline she had ever seen with her own eyes, he had lacked numerous things that the most pious humans believed God was.

"A true orthodox God", she murmured softly, speaking into the glass window without realizing, "wouldn't have lost to us. The concept of God which much of humanity believes in couldn't even be hurt by mere humans."

 _No. Can't do it. Not enough information for me to construct a proper thesis._ Theology was hardly her field. Every approach she took to the problem arrived at the same conclusion. There were still too many unknowns in that area, far too many things they'd been too busy saving the entire world to investigate in the kind of analytic depth she usually preferred for her assignments.

And every time she tried to analyze it, she inevitably ended up trying to take in everything else she'd experienced in her time as a Phantom Thief. _Conflict between ideologies of right and wrong. Justice and corruption. Humanity's eternal search for the creator. If Yaldabaoth didn't create the cognitive world, then who did? Igor?_

A pity then, that she couldn't ask him directly. She could certainly ask Akira, but he hadn't talked with the strange long-nosed creature for six years going. She would have to request Aiko to ask for her... assuming, of course, that Igor could be trusted to speak the truth about such matters to his 'guests'.

And assuming that she would ever be able to speak with Aiko Tsuruga again.

The niggling fear, the worry had been subtle at first, but it gripped her more and more after Akira had left her, an invisible pressure in the stuffy room dulling muscle control, altering heart rate and raising her pulse almost back to the level it had been when she'd first learned of the new Land appearing. A premonition of dread. Only a feeling... But hard experience had taught Makoto to be mindful of her feelings. They were usually correct, if not always in the way she expected.

Reaching up and feeling the smoothness of the glass window, she studied the endless stretch of ocean beyond Tosashimizu's rocky southern coast. They were out there now, not in that churning, rain-swept ocean but another, far more hostile one. In a Land that belonged- irony of ironies- to a woman named Kaneshiro. And no matter what Akira said to her, no matter how much she wanted to trust in his judgment, in the abilities of the Dream Voyagers, the bad feeling wouldn't leave.

And she was still helpless to do anything to aid them.

 _This is why_ , she decided rigidly. _This is the_ other _reason why we didn't want to share the specifics of what it is that the Phantom Thieves do to change people's hearts with anyone else. Not even with Sojiro, or Sis, or those other people in Tokyo Akira made friends with during his year there._

 _Because they'd make themselves sick with worry about all the dangers, all the powerful Shadows and traps we faced in those Palaces, wondering every time if we might never come home again._

 _Is it even worse then, for someone who has fought Shadows, and experienced those dangers firsthand?_

Perhaps it was. Perhaps that was one of the myriad curses of having an active, creative mind- if not quite as creative as some others she had met. Clearly, vividly imagining what exactly they were dealing with over there in Kaneshiro's realm only made things worse.

So she wouldn't. Shutting down idle attempts by a terrified mind to construct waking nightmares wasn't always easy, but it was something she'd had a great deal of practice at. More time spent talking with Sae had taught her about how her older sister handled her fears. Fear, Sis had explained to her, was an animal instinct. It didn't actually help anyone. Least of all an infirm patient in hospital who still couldn't quite walk properly without falling over.

"They will make it", she told the window's reflection. "They have to." _And_ _I have the easy part. All I need to do is sit here in bed. and believe in them. Believe that they're just as dedicated, just as tenacious as the Phantom Thieves were. And that like Phantom Thieves, they will triumph against all odds and come out alive, victorious._

 _Please... whatever God there might be... Help them._

 _No,_ she reconsidered. _Not God._ Faith had never been her family's forte. Yet, it surprised her most of all to discover that after years spent exposed to some of the very worst minds that Tokyo- that humanity- had to offer, she still had some room in her heart to believe in a happy ending.

 _Bless the children, give them triumph now._

* * *

"They took her", Jiachi repeated in a deflated voice completely unlike him. "All her Personas... they stopped working again, and..."

Unable to stop herself, Mira rose up from her seated position, the grainy lights of the harbor playing off her golden mask. "And you _left her_?!"

"She ordered us to flee", Pelagio explained, just as dour. "The enemy's strength was overwhelming, and their intent to capture instead of kill was clear."

"And so you just _left her",_ Mira accused, the previous depression forgotten as her voice rose in outrage. "Are you _really_ that hopeless? You can't disobey even if she tells you to-"

"She was trapped", Julian cut her off. "Even I could see that if we tried-"

"We can't leave without her!"

"I know! But we had to escape-"

"This is _your fault_!"

"My fault? _You're_ the one who went against her orders and brought along this useless-"

"If her orders are wrong, then we _should_!"

Pelagio waited another minute, letting the argument between the two of them simmer on before smashing the flat of his broadsword into one of the metal shipping crates, producing an clangor that silenced everyone, made them turn to him.

"What is done", he said, the beaked helmet accentuating the severity of his tone, "is done. Our captain ordered our retreat because she did not wish for us to be captured by the Shadows as well. This way, we at least have a chance of saving her in turn."

"Some chance", Mira murmured, gesturing at the dark city skyline helplessly. "She could be _anywhere_ in this Land. And you expect us to be able to take down a Shadow that she couldn't beat?"

"If that is what must be done to save our captain, then that is what we will do!", he regarded the others, Noel included. "Or have you all forgotten how often she has put her own life on the line to save both of you?"

"I'm not saying we won't try", Julian argued. "I'm just saying, with all these strong Shadows, and us without our leader... This feels like a freakin' suicide mission even if we didn't have this guy to protect as well."

"Isn't that your favorite kind?", Mira spat back. "So you can show off more? Make jokes, twirl your guns around like you're some kind of action movie star? This is _reality_ , not-"

Pelagio had to rap his sword again to shut off another potential shouting session, and Noel was next to speak. "I feel terrible. I am indirectly responsible for this situation. Thus, I feel I should do everything I can to aid in Tsu- sorry, in _Saber's_ recovery."

"What're you gonna do?", Jiachi scorned him, too upset to hide his disdain. "Pray really hard?"

"No, I-"

A warbling, inhuman shriek cut him off, heralding the arrival of several Shadows. A smaller group than the teeming hordes they'd become used to seeing in this Land, but no less formidable looking. The woman-headed spider creatures scuttled along the ground while the floating prisoners gabbled through their garrotes. Worst of all, they all recognized the tall humanoid figure at the back of the formation, encrusted in coral and other sea fauna until it looked like a walking reef with a clamshell head.

"The noise", Julian realized, glowering at Pelagio. "Way to _go_ , dude. Always wanted to die screaming."

* * *

4/30 Tuesday (Two Months Ago)

After School

His screams had been silent. He had no idea how much longer they would remain so, and so he had returned.

Eyes closed, Noel took a deep breath, expecting the worst. "I have to know. I must know."

Cecille Yumika had approached his request for a meeting with a mix of dread and resignation, but seeing the question coming over the horizon for two weeks didn't change her answer. The bus stop they'd chosen to meet up was at least a less stifling environment than the hospital's dour lobby, but she looked uncomfortable nonetheless.

"...No. No you don't, child. What you _need_ to do is get on with your life. I never knew the girl myself of course, but I have a hard time imagining that she would want you to spent the rest of it wallowing in grief."

"I have a hard time imagining her deliberately walking into the gate to Faraway Lands", he countered so swiftly that the argument had to have been prepared beforehand.

"Furusato-chan... Niyoga-kun and I, we both liked her. She had other friends too. Not once did we ever catch a hint that she would wish to surrender the beautiful life that she has been granted by God. And I should mention also that Niyoga-kun is currently the top graded student at Koashimizu academy. He is, by nearly all accounts, a certified genius, particularly when it comes to spotting hints in a person's body language."

Cecille made a show of apathy, trying to make it seem like she was tuning out his words. "Did you tell him?"

"No. As I promised you before, I haven't told anyone."

"Good", she noted in relief. "In retrospect, I shouldn't have shown you at all either. If I'd known it would eat away at you like this..."

"Why?", he demanded sullenly. "Why is it so important for us to keep that realm's existence a secret?"

Matching his agitation with her own passion on the subject, she regarded him with a frigid gaze. "Would you prefer chronological or alphabetical? The big one, the one you might not have figured out even if you stopped to think for a while, is that the more people talk and think about that world, the more the gate becomes visible. The bigger pull the gate has, the more people get suckered in. Rinse and repeat and I don't even want to _think_ about what happens next."

The resulting mental image did give him pause, but only for a moment. "I do not desire a home in that place. I already have a home. Two homes, in fact."

"No", she remarked sordidly. "What you want is to take a trip deep into a Land that's probably crawling with Shadows, just so you can talk to that girl."

"It might not be", he began to protest. "Shadows are attracted by strong negative emotions, yes? So she-"

"There _would_ be Shadows there", Cecille cut him off testily. "It varies from person to person, but I've never once seen a Land without any Shadows in it. Someone with enough despair in their minds to enter the gate in the first place is going to draw Shadows in to insulate them. I don't mean to insult Furusato- I'm sure she seemed just fine back when she was with you- but that's just the truth of how that place works. Rulers don't care for intruders, and the Shadows enforce that hostility, disguised as guards or some other type of guard."

"I see", he slumped in defeat. Even blind, she would have sensed his mood, and even someone who spent so much of their time among easily upset children couldn't help but want to soften the blow. Or at least, she did.

"Hey, I understand. Hardly the first time I've seen young love. You wanted to end things properly with her, right? Even if you can't get her back out again, you want to know from her own mouth why she left, what exactly caused that despair."

Noel nodded silently into the wall of the station.

"Because you're worried you might have helped to cause it. Or at least, might have been able to do something to help her if you'd known. But answer me honestly, Vitienne... _how exactly is that knowledge going to help you now?_ Will it help that poor girl's parents? Would it stop them from prosecuting you? Yeah, I heard about that by the way. Evidence and testimony from another world isn't permissible in a court of law, you know."

More alarming to her than any other reaction he could have given, he actually barked out a short _laugh_ before dashing out of the bus stop, suddenly desperate for some fresh air.

When she'd caught up to him, she carefully stretched an arm over his shoulder. "I know how you feel. That's why I took the risk of letting you know about it, and taking you there so you could see the truth for yourself. But those risks are as far as I go. It's too dangerous to just go blindly searching for Furusato's Land. In case the Leviathan Shadow you saw last time didn't spell it out for you, that place... it's hell."

Noel laughed again, short and sharp just as before, worry quieting Cecille and giving him room to speak slowly. "Yes. Yes. That's the real question, isn't it? Is the other world truly 'hell'?"

More than slightly perturbed, she moved around to catch his face, locked into a melancholy grimace and revealing almost nothing. "And if it is 'hell'... then, where is 'heaven'?"

"I don't-"

" _That's_ what I need to know, Yumika-san", he confessed into the damp afternoon air. "Not just for me, but others as well. Millions of others who have spent their lives adhering to faith."

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Evening

The score of Shadows advanced, caring nothing for the fear or resolution on the faces of their victims and only paying closer attention to Pelagio when he drew his sword and shield.

"It was not as loud as the two of you", the bird knight remarked, focusing on the enemy. "Regardless, we must work together to triumph. I shall strengthen your defenses with Galahad and focus upon the leader. Kindly try to keep the others off me, will you?"

No one offered any further arguments. They were almost grateful to be able to vent their frustrations on actual deserving targets. Every Shadow that tried to move in and cut Pelagio's sudden wild charge off found itself shot down by the staccato barrage of Julian's bullets, while any attacks that made it through were swiftly healed up by Mira's skills. That was enough to get the lesser ones to obey their leader's clawed command gesture and charge in return, ignoring Noel's frightened-looking form to focus on the Persona-users.

Sparing them for now, Pelagio drove his blade deep into that claw, anticipating and blocking the shark-formed torrent of water that the hideous Shadow called upon to counter. Even during the times when Dancer was able to boost his speed, dodging had never been his main way of avoiding damage, instead simply taking it on his shield or hoping his armor could hold out. By the amount of mottled scar tissue and marine shell covering this enemy, they utilized a similar battle strategy to his.

"Hmph. Yet, the difference between us is clear", he claimed, flashing back to the brutal duel with the fire-using automaton Shadow in Mira's Land, the one that had awakened Galahad's power and resolve in him. "I fight for my leader because I truly believe in her cause! _You_ fight out of naught but unthinking obedience to your foul master! En garde!"

The hideous coral giant gave no coherent reply, merely a few subdued hisses and growls before bringing its other claw down on his shield and nearly tearing through it. Pushing back with it and slashing into the follow-up, Pelagio focused his mind instead. "Strike now, Galahad! _Freila!"_

The resulting domed explosion was enough to actually obscure the enemy for several seconds, leaving behind a scalloped crater in the concrete and throwing several of the lesser Shadows off balance as well. Enough for Mira to sneak several dagger strikes in, shredding one of the spider women and blasting another one back on a shrill-screaming green wind blast. For a moment it looked like the battle's momentum was with them, then Pelagio saw the figure shrouded in smoke open up at its head, several rows of curved teeth peeling apart like some sort of carnivorous plant, releasing the swarm of impossibly swift strikes that left all three of them momentarily dazed and confused.

Before he could regain his bearing, the leader's tattered, moist claw slammed into him as well, tearing through armor plating just as easily as shields. The pain was expected, but when his retaliation failed to even make a furrow in the enemy's tortured flesh, he gaped and left himself open to another blast of water.

 _Disease,_ he recognized the symptoms at last through a feverish haze. Having traveled Faraway Lands alone for years, he had learned to recognize the various abilities used by Shadows, and this was one of the most insidious types. The foul red liquid dripping from the enemy's claws contained a fast-acting retrovirus that leeched away the strength of its host. The fact that it could be transferred by proximity only made it worse, and when he saw Mira heading over to him with concern in her eyes he held up an arm in protest, unable to miss the revolting orange growth already running along it, draining his energy away even as he spoke so that every word was an exertion.

"No! Do not come near me Dancer, or it will infect you too!"

Terrified by the fear in his words just as much as the growth, Mira stared back in horror. "But... what can we do?"

Before he could muster an answer, more Shadows charged her and Jiachi, allowing no time for further talk. Fighting the horrible numbing sensation and fatigue with everything he had left, Pelagio cried out and was rewarded with the sight of his sword cleaving into the leader's flesh... but that wound wasn't enough to stop the giant from seizing up and throwing him clear away into a shipping crate, nothing more than a gnat.

 _Stand,_ he frantically demanded of his infected leg muscles, struggling to comprehend the larger battle. _Damn you, stand!_

Finally, he could see clearly again. For all that was worth. Julian had managed to pick off more of the enemy, but now they had surrounded him, soaking up his shots without flinching. Once she'd lost sight of him in the mob, Mira had tried to intervene only for the leader to rush in, much faster than expected of his size, and slash fresh infectious wounds across her flank.

"Damn it!", they could hear Jiachi's frustration from inside the crowd of foes. "What's _with_ these assholes?! You're supposed to go down when I hit you!"

"Hold on!", Mira called. "I can-oh no..."

Too late, she saw the shark-shaped deluge of water descending on her, the Shadow leader giving them no respite. "This... This is impossible...!"

Pelagio's shield spell covered her, the transparent gray shell deflecting the next strike, but he could see that Mira was already panicking, about to give up or give in to the draining disease that now covered her left hip. Clenching up, she managed to release a lightning bolt on the leader, only barely fazing it.

"Vitienne!", she shouted, eyes focused on the red claws moments away from taking her life. "Vitienne, _run_! We can't beat this thing! Not without-"

"Enough!", Pelagio thundered back, the edge of defeat lending him the strength to yell if little else. Julian did better, unleashing a surge of fire that blasted his attackers back. "We cannot give up just yet!"

"But... I can't...!"

"Yes", he echoed. "I know. I feel it. The disease is weakening us more and more. But we cannot lose here! Our captain is counting on us to save her! We _must_ win!"

As he spoke, he saw the culmination of that danger; Julian had managed to destroy all the minor Shadows, but that had left him open for the coral giant's dizzying mouth swarm, followed up by a cut across his midsection that left the noxious infection behind.

"No", Jiachi croaked in despair. He could stand and run and shoot for now, but his fire quickly proved nothing more than an inconvenience to the Shadow. "He's right... We gotta win! But..."

" _Vitienne!"_

Hearing that pained cry from Mira brought the other's gaze back to their hapless 'guest', the realization that he hadn't run away as requested. Just the opposite; he now stood between Mira and the coral giant, his arms spread wide in defensive posture despite having no visible way to fight back.

"No", Pelagio wheezed, trying to move in to help with legs that no longer wanted to obey. "Don't..."

"It's alright", Noel announced, loudly enough for everyone to hear. "I'm sorry. I should have told you before. I-"

The Shadow didn't care what meaningless noises its prey made. Nor did it care which of the four targets fell first. The red-dripping claw descended, shredding not flesh but paper, the torn pages of Noel's sketchbook scattering every direction across the wharf on the wind.

Seemingly not bothered by the loss, he turned back to Mira, coldly confident. "-I suppose... That you'll see the truth for yourself."

Only thrown off for a moment, the giant roared, swinging the claw's jagged talons down again towards his head-

And halted on nothingness.

* * *

5/5 Sunday (One Month Ago)

Afternoon

He stood in light.

Against Cecille's claim, the Land he'd found had a sparingly few number of Shadows, and fewer conceptions. Instead, a number of storm-wrought rock spikes jutted through the grass- the smallest signs of the place's dominant feature, an enormous craggy mountain carved to look like some unknown face.

Both the Shadows and the conceptions here bore helmets and armor he could recognize as Nordic-inspired, with beards to match. None of them seemed to be interested in a random wanderer, so long as he didn't try to climb the mountain trail any further upwards, and he hadn't bothered with them. Instead, he had simply come to an well-illuminated copse among the foot to sit.

And think.

At least, Cecille _hoped_ that was all he'd done since arriving. Carefully pushing her irritation down so as not to attract the Shadows, she ambled up to him, eyes down.

"Learned anything yet?"

Noel said nothing. His eyes remained shut.

"I'm pretty sure I was clear about this, you know. You're just lucky you found a Land that isn't too hostile to start with. Now... are you going to come with me, or do I have to drag-"

"Why did you do it?"

Thrown off by the sudden force in his voice, Cecille stared back into a face streaked with tears. "I can't stop thinking about it", he explained into the mountain air. "I have to know!"

Exasperated, Cecille rolled her eyes. "We discussed this. Several times. You _don't_ have to know. That knowledge isn't worth your life, or mine. You don't know right now, and you're still alive. Which is more than you'll be able to say if you stay here for too long."

He rose, focusing on her with an ire she'd never seen in the face of this young blond man who had seemed so courteous in all of their previous talks. Only now did it seem like he was actually capable of true anger, and the sight of that anger made it abundantly clear why he usually kept it under careful lock and key, more frightened of it than even she was.

"So I should just forget about it?", he rasped. "Just ignore the absolute demolition of everything I have ever believed in?!"

"Vitienne", she warned. "Don't-"

But he didn't care. Any concern he might have normally afforded her warnings was entirely invested into the intensity of words heated enough to burn the air.

" _Hence do the ways of men part_!", he screamed up at the mountain's snowy peak far above, half expecting it to respond. " _Daher, scheiden sich die wege der menschen!_ And yet... I cannot...!"

"Vitienne! Enough! You're going to attract the Shad-"

She stopped. Past experience had left her with a sense that told her that it was already too late. Three horn helmeted, armored, bearded warriors stood against them, eyes glowing pinpricks of blue light and armed with curving axes heavy enough to imply they were in fact their main weapons instead of their transformed states.

Cecille didn't understand their words, but she knew what they meant. They were here to either capture or kill the two of them. "They're all the same", she grumbled. "Guess I've got no choice but to use-"

But something else, louder and even more deafening than Noel's earlier howl rang out, stealing away other considerations as soon as she realized it had come from the same place as before. Words screamed loud enough to echo along the mountain peaks, in a guttural language she could not begin comprehend.

What she _could_ comprehend was the sudden surge of energy blasting her back away from him along with the Shadows, prompting them to discard their shells of flesh and become monsters.

"Hence do the ways of men part", Noel spoke, his earlier wrath vanished to be replaced by a strange, timorous echoing that had nothing to do with the mountain. "If you truly wish to strive to achieve peace of the soul, then you need only to believe. If you wish to be a devotee of truth, then... _inquire_."

She stared up at the floating figure, not fully comprehending what she was seeing. Sensing her fear, he turned and offered her a tiny, strangely serene smile.

" _Don't be afraid."_

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Evening

" _Don't be afraid."_ The words didn't make sense to Mirambela at first. How could she not be afraid of death, when it was so close?

They had already lost. With the disease draining their strength away, no one could stop the giant coral Shadow now. Pelagio and Jiachi were both making visible efforts to stand up no matter how much their bodies protested the movement, but they looked just as depleted as she felt, ashen and pale.

"Don't be afraid", Noel repeated, smiling brightly for the first time in months. _"I am your shining one."_

The giant roared, swinging the claw's jagged talons down again towards his head-

And halted on nothingness.

 _No,_ she realized, heart leaping into her throat. _It's not nothingness. That's...?_

It was as though a microscopic sun had begun to emerge from the horizon behind them, blanketing the entire harbor in a sweeping, radiant light that caused the giant to flinch away from it, still roaring and thrashing about in vain. It was too bright for her to look at directly, involuntarily covering her eyes until the rays of light from the morning star had dimmed to a more reasonable level.

The star had also resolved into a top-heavy cross shape devoid of any hint of legs, instead floating several feet up off the ground behind Noel. Seemingly composed of light-toned metal plating and festooned with rows of multicolored gems along both sides, a brilliant kaleidoscope of larger crystals jutting out from the left and right ends along with the bottom.

Everywhere else that she looked, tiny holes in the sleek frame still emitted illumination from within that hurt to look at too closely. The largest crystal, a beautiful glittering ebony spike, protruded up from the middle of the chest, acting as a partial cover for a mouthless metal mask with large, curved eyes radiating with the same light. Seeming almost like an afterthought, four flimsy looking metal arms dangled down on both sides of the central crystal.

 _Is that... A Persona? It's so bright...!_

Only Noel wasn't stunned by the new arrival. It floated forward with him as he spoke, his voice growing into a mournful, soul-sick howl that even gave the Sadow pause.

" _A devotee of truth has no other choice but to seek it. If this world is one of Gods or Demons, then we must inquire, and learn the ultimate truth of them. If it is my destiny to redeem faith, then I must accept it. Let us ride forward to the beckoning of a new dawn, oh lord of revelation's light... **Dellingr**!"_

Whatever awe the Shadow had felt seeing the way the light reflected off the new Persona's gems faded quickly, and it roared and lunged. The floating cluster of gems which Mira had assumed was Dellingr raised a round, pearlescent head aggressively, but no direct form of attack came. Instead, its wielder thrust one arm forward, calling on a skill: "Let tranquility soothe your hatred... _Tarunda_!"

The bloody claw still cut into Noel's flesh, leaving behind distinctive orange flecks indicating the onset of infection, but to her amazement there was little other sign of injury. Still, the hit made been made, and now it was only a matter of time until Noel's newfound strength fled him just as it had the others.

Looking down at the orange blot, he shook his head, still serene. " _Me Patra_."

Dellingr's spherical head reclined with the same strange calmness, and rays of bright green light stretched out from its dozens of apertures to reach everyone, stinging as it scoured the noxious orange blight out of their bodies. Within moments, Mira could breathe properly again, and see that everyone else was back to normal as well.

And Pelagio was suddenly running forward, screeching a war cry as if trying to outperform Noel's earlier volume.

The giant was still focused on Noel and the new Persona. It was raising a claw to summon the buffeting stream again, leaving its side open to a flashing, spinning cut from Pelagio's sword. A hail of shots from Julian peppered the other side of it until the creature flinched, giving Mira her own opening to refocus Oya's power within her mind.

"Don't bother us any more... _Zionga!"_

Lightning descended in a piercing fork and the Shadow roared, this time in legitimate pain instead of rage. The clamshell maw opened again to release the dizzying swarm attack, but even as stars erupted in front of her eyes, Mira knew that Pelagio and Julian were both too enraged to let such a thing delay them for more than an instant. Fire and the domed blue explosions struck anew, and when she looked back the giant had Pelagio hanging from the center of its chest, suspended by a sword buried up to the hilt in the organic crust.

Giving one final roar, the Shadow collapsed to its knees, disintegrating into shreds of formless darkness. Her body sensed the victory even as her eyes did, finally letting go and drifting off into the sleep of exhaustion that adrenaline and resistance could no longer delay.

* * *

 _Hurts..._

 _It_ hurts _..._

The stinging pain didn't bring Aiko Tsuruga out of the trance she couldn't remember falling into, but the sudden lack of it. She had discovered early on that her bonds had some kind of thorns hidden inside that could jut out at seemingly random times and pierce her arms. Though there was no sign of the blood she had expected, this and the scalding pole from earlier had already managed to drive her into a level of agony that eclipsed anything a Shadow had ever done to her in combat.

She couldn't remember the screaming. Only that at some point, her senses had simply overloaded and shut down, leaving her in the trance state, deprived of feeling. She could hardly believe how much more vulnerable she felt now that they had taken her hat away, leaving her hair exposed... How much more vulnerable, without her power.

If she had still been able to summon her Personas, to tap into their power to boost strength and agility and survive damage that would normally break bones, she might have lasted much longer... But not this long. It was impossible to say exactly how long it had been.

She hung there in the void without time, dimly exploring the spectrum of pain as it ravaged her nerves. She couldn't say if having a witness to it all was helpful or not.

It hurt to lean forward. It hurt to lean back. It hurt to stay in the center.

It hurt to much to think about it. The nerves used for deductive processes felt too scorched to use any more than what was necessary.

The tall Shadow woman in the black dress with Reiha's face, the one who had called herself Mistress Kaneshiro, studied her closely, clinically, her expression devoid of the malice expected of a torturer. Certainly, the way this one dished out endless pain made it easy to view her as nothing but a monster who enjoyed the torment of others.

But the longer this went on for, the more Aiko began to realize that wasn't _quite_ accurate.

"You take it well", Kaneshiro observed, disturbingly casual-sounding about everything that had transpired in this cushioned room, blazing yellow eyes locking into her captive's. "Better than I expected of your type. But as you can see, with the application of enough external pain, you can forget all about your internal pain. That... is true bliss, wouldn't you agree?"

It hurt too much to talk yet. All she could manage was a frightened shake of her head, and even that caused the skin across her neck muscles to flare up an alarming red.

Kaneshiro hardly seemed bothered by the refusal, surveying the welts and bruises sympathetically. "I understand. Not everyone has to resort to this, of course. Those lucky people who remain unmarred by tragedy can live peaceful, happy lives, blissfully ignorant of the pain that exists for others in the real world."

Trying to reply and failing, Aiko released a hideous rattling cough before finding her throat again. "L-Like the cognitions... right? You keep them locked up, never seeing the Shadows outside their windows..."

"Our citizens?" Kaneshiro seemed momentarily surprised, dark lips sliding back into a satisfied smile as she reached down to grip and lift her chin up. "I suppose, yes. And those of us who understand the curse of pain may defend them from criminals. But you see dear, I wasn't speaking of _them_. I spoke of your tagalongs."

Freshly irritated blisters turned her angry scowl into something that sounded closer to a hissing cobra before she could break free, her attempt to bite the hand that held her chin barely missing. "...They're my friends."

Raising her curled lashes in mock surprise, Kaneshiro regarded her intently. "Mm. Half a lie, I think. I can smell it. I told you before; pain always reveals the truth. The truth of who you really are."

"S-shut up...!"

Gaze narrowing, Kaneshiro shook her leonine head in pity. "Why? Can't you see that I'm only trying to help you? To help you understand? You're not _like_ them, dear. They cherish their normal lives, and seek to avoid pain whenever they can. You, however..."

With an amused laugh, the lithe female Shadow knelt down closer. Close enough that Aiko could now see a set of four sharp-pointed _fangs_ protruding several inches out of her incisors, ahead of the other teeth.

"You value yourself... not at all. No. You're like _me_. You seek out the bliss of external pain to block out the internal."

"S-s-s.."

Kaneshiro clucked her tongue, returning to her feet. "And now, I see why. Such a sense of worthlessness in you. Something buried deep within, from long, long ago... And to block out those awful memories, you seek out pain. To find some worth in your life, you sacrifice yourself to protect others, taking the abuse so that they might be spared."

"What..." The quavering whisper had more hurt in it than anything the Shadow had done to her physically. "What?"

"I'm sorry, dear... but I have seen human friendship, and _that_ is not it. No more than the citizens I protect are my friends. They are your _protectorate_. Not your friends."

"N-no. You're... lies...!"

Baring the horrible fangs again, the tall Shadow transitioned the hissing expression into a sad smile, the normally sinister reverb in her voice lowering slightly.

"Complete denial. So very typical of humans. The only way for you to accept the truth is to behold it for yourself then. You actually believe that they will come and rescue you, don't you, dear?"

Aiko said nothing. She didn't know what the answer was anymore, afraid to admit that uncertainity even to herself. Only her eyes revealed the fear, not of the physical pain but the awful poison in this woman's seemingly compassionate words.

Kaneshiro blinked slowly, waiting for a response before sighing up at the cushioned ceiling. "Of course. That was your plan all along, wasn't it? Allow us to capture you and bring you to justice, in the hope that your poor stray lambs might escape and rescue you. Once again, you willingly forfeit yourself for them. Because you believe that you are worthless next to them."

 _Shut up. Shut up shut up shut up shut up...!_

But she couldn't actually form the words. It was too painful.

At least, that was the reason she wanted to be true.

Black-gloved hands wound and folded around each other like spider webs. "You are not worthless, dear. In fact, your absence is the very reason that you will not be rescued. Without you to guide those poor lambs, they are lost here... they've become far too dependent on your support to function without you. That's why I assign particularly strong Shadows as my lieutenants, so that the others can stay focused without me."

 _Lieutenants... right._ She'd seen and fought those. The revolting coral giant with the enormous claws and a clamshell head, and the frilled, white-masked scythe-bearer, the latter of whom had eventually left this room to resume hunting for 'criminals'.

'Criminals' like her friends.

 _Or...?_

"No", she blurted, desperation making it sound more like a plea than a denial. "No. They..."

Hazy yellow eyes focused in on her tears with morbid interest. "You will have to see it for yourself. It would be for the best if they left my city, went back to live the happy lives you've suffered to give them. This place... is not for them."

"Not... for anyone...!"

The Shadow gave a polite chuckle. "Not for anyone, you say?"

"No... This is..." Finally recovering enough from a combined physical and mental assault to speak clearly again, her eyes focused and alert. "This place is... is just a Land. Just someone's dream world. Hayato-senpai's dream. You? You're _nothing_. You're just her Shadow. Just a fiend stealing her face. And before long, my friends will come and kick your ass!"

Disappointingly, the Shadow barely reacted to the glob of defiant spit she'd managed to work up and release, staining the waist of the form-fitting gown but only for a moment. The tattoos adorning its face curled up like snakes as she smiled back.

"Oh, poor dear. The pain of being so consistently wrong about everything isn't nearly as much fun as we've been having, but you seem to be a fan of it. I told you before- I am only trying to help you realize who you are. Who you can be."

Something above her made a noise and every erg of the resistance Aiko had managed to build back up vanished in an instant, nearly swallowing her tongue from biting down as the black thorns and poles dug back into her wrists and the white swallowed up every other sense. Enough to stop her from forming coherent words, but infuriatingly, not enough to block out the Shadow's.

"You see, pain is itself a God. The true God. A God that will strip away your pretensions of morality, and allow you to realize that you belong here. With me." Kneeling down, the Shadow pressed a bone-pale, tattoo-laden forehead into her young victim's own, no longer even trying to hide its own excitement at the prospect of what it knew was to come.

" _With your Mistress."_

* * *

Considering the harbor to be a safe haven no longer, Pelagio had ordered them out to a covered area in the main part of the city, far enough down the structure to be invisible to the zeppelins. All the same, he maintained an alert vigil while the others rested.

"Please forgive me", Noel said earnestly, staring back into Mira's curious eyes without regret once she had woken up. "I might have shared the truth with you all earlier, but I couldn't be sure that you really were the ones that I saw in my dream."

Considering how Aiko would approach him if she were there, Mira quickly decided it didn't matter. "You just saved our lives. I think that's more than enough to make up for a little secret between friends. Besides, it's not like we can talk."

"As though anyone else would understand even if you did", he snorted drily at the absurdity. "The truth of this world can't be explained through anything as simple as mere words. It can only be seen and felt."

"Just like with Personas", Jiachi remarked. All of his earlier anger towards Noel had diffused with the Shadow leader's destruction and their recovery. "I just didn't think that someone... I mean..."

The other boy smiled back neutrally. "It's okay. You can say it, Ros- I mean, erm, Gunslinger. You didn't believe that someone like me could awaken to a Persona, yes? Someone who took an oath to never bring harm on another? Yet, there are so many skills that don't involve hurting, yes?"

"Point", Mira agreed happily. Asking had confirmed that while the strange gem-encrusted Dellingr had various useful abilities, mainly powerful healing skills, none of them actually involved doing any damage to Shadows. Noel bore no weapons at all in his new garb, and he showed no desire to carry one. "That Persona of yours sure is pretty though. I'm actually a little jealous, but it'll be nice to not be the only healer."

"Speakin' of", Julian noted, "I guess you already know why it is we shouldn't use your name here too much. So, what should we call you while we're here? Just 'Healer'? Kinda boring."

Mira was more contemplative, carefully looking over the outfit that had materialized over Noel's school vest and pants back when Dellingr had appeared; a wide-sleeved robe of white and gold trim, decorated with several black marks in the form of stylized eyes, a thin fiber cloak laid over the back. The mask was a separate affair, a full face cover looking to be composed of the same light metals as Dellingr was, a triangular design replacing the mouth Though the eyes had only a tiny slit for visibility, Noel had assured them he could see perfectly. He had removed it here though, so that they could see the piercing light of his eyes.

"Priest? Cleric?", she tried after a long period mulling it over.

He chuckled politely. "Hah. Perhaps if father Shigetsu ever came here. I am no priest. How about 'Dawnbringer'?"

Jiachi grinned. "Hey, cool! But, uh, there's no sun in this world."

"Then _I_ shall become that sun", he offered, laughing at his own solemnity for a moment.

Mira drummed her fingers against grimy brick. "Better to keep it simple for this purpose though. You can tell the Shadows that you're Dawnbringer. But for us... Mender?"

"Perfect", he nodded approvingly. "In all of human history, there are none I respect so much as those who seek to heal the sick and injured."

"Really?" Mira blinked in confusion. "Then how come you wanted to become a manga artist, and not a doctor?"

For the first time since arriving in Kaneshiro's Land, fear crossed onto Noel's face. "I... we can discuss that at a later time, yes?"

"Prolly 'cause doctors have to spend like six extra years in college", Julian remarked teasingly. "Sure, he can afford to pay for it, but c'mon, who really wants to go to school for that long? Jeez."

"Moving on", Mira said, remembering where they were. "I just want to say it now, that last fight was really messy. I think that we need to elect a new leader before we start looking around this place for Saber."

"Reasonable", Noel agreed.

"Yeah", Julian remarked grudgingly. "Even I gotta admit, that was like a total fustercluck. I mean... I think if Saber had there been there with us, directing us like she usually does, then we might not have needed Mender to jump in and save us from that freaky Shadow. Or y'know, maybe that's just hurt pride and I'm talkin' out of my ass here." He shrugged.

"It was the disease which crippled us", Pelagio remarked, speaking for the first time in nearly half an hour, and in a way that startled Noel. "Yes. Perhaps our captain might have devised a stratagem to deal with it in time, perhaps not. I attempted to use the anti-venom that you purchased at that farm... place, yet it had no effect."

"It's called a pharmacy", Mira giggled. "For that, I suppose we'd need to buy some other kind of medicine. A vaccine, maybe. At least we don't need to worry so much about poison any more."

"So of course they go and use other stuff", Jiachi complained with a grimace. "Sleep and brainwashing and diseases. Come of think of it, that seems to be the overall theme of this damn place. Shadows that take forever to die and drop really annoying bullshit on us. I swear, when we finally find that damn Kaneshiro lady..."

"We save Saber first", she reminded him. "As for our temporary leader... I vote for Guardian."

"Guardian?" Noel sounded confused, prompting Mira to gesture towards Pelagio. "Ah. Yes, I suppose that makes the most sense."

"Aw man", Julian grimaced, snapping his fingers. "I thought now was my big chance."

"Sorry, Gunslinger", Mira lowered her head in embarrassment. "After the way we were talking to each other just a moment ago, I don't think either one of us are really fit to lead. And Mender's just starting out, so that leaves Guardian."

"Temporarily", Pelagio emphasized with a grim nod towards each of them. "Of course, I will be happy to lead this effort. We absolutely must rescue the captain at any cost. Please be aware however, that I remain unfamiliar with many aspects of your human society. In such cases, I would value your input as well."

"Count on it", she agreed. "Even Saber couldn't avoid my nagging."

Noel's eyes widened at that comment. "Nagging? Sora- I mean, Dancer. We discussed this earlier. Sharing your private worries with your teammates doesn't make you a burden."

Her returning stare was directed at none of them, skating around each to pierce a wall. "And yet, if I hadn't done that... brought you here..."

Feeling his hands pressing against her shoulder alerted her to the fact that she was actually shaking. "If you hadn't brought me here, then I might never have had the chance to join with you, and see my mission through."

Julian frowned. "Huh? What'd ya mean 'mission'?"

Looking just as shamed as Mira for a moment, Noel regarded Pelagio and the others nervously. "Well... Please don't misunderstand. Of course, rescuing Saber certainly comes first. As does saving whoever is this Land's ruler, yes?"

"Actually, we know her name now", Mira noted casually. "The Shadows here call her 'Mistress Kaneshiro'."

"Kaneshiro...", he mused quietly. "Doesn't ring a bell, I'm afraid."

"With us either", Julian admitted. "Won't stop us from saving her though. The real Kaneshiro, I mean. Not the Shadow."

"Then", Noel clasped his hands hopefully. "Then, when that is done..." Realizing how that looked, he withdrew a step and stared into Pelagio's foreboding raptor eyes to speak, as if actually realizing for the first time that Pelagio wasn't someone he recognized from school.

"Erm. Guardian, wasn't it? You said earlier that even you, one who grew up here, don't truly know what this world is, or how it came to be, yes?"

Pelagio's wide steel pauldrons rose up and down in an exaggerated shrug. "It is a world formed from the random dreams of humans. Is that not enough, Mender?"

Their new teammate smiled sadly, feeling just as he had with Cecille. "For some. But not for me. Not... now. In that aspect, at least, I am no different from Niyoga-san. My burning need to know, to discover this world's connection with the divine... _that_ was the mote of desire that erupted into my Persona, Dellingr. The personification of dawn. The dawn of knowledge of this world. My sole interest is uncovering the truth." Finishing with a self-derisive laugh, he studied the looks on Mira and Julian's faces as well. "I'm sorry. That _was_ a little over-dramatic, wasn't it? But when I heard that voice in my mind, I knew it was the truth."

Far from being judgmental, Pelagio nodded in comprehension. "You heard the voice of your inner self then. Just as Galahad spoke to me when I was lost."

"And Oya spoke to me", Mira followed, looking enthusiastic for once.

"And Wild Bill", Jiachi muttered far more reluctantly, clearly the least impressed by Noel's speech. "It sounds like you already think we're going to help you out with this, yeah?"

"When there isn't any kind of time-dependent crisis", Noel reminded him, ignoring the way his voice was cracking. "Aren't you all curious as well? To learn the real truth of this world?"

Pelagio stepped forward, placing himself between them and staring into Noel's anxious eyes. "As you said, that decision can wait. The captain will decide. _After_ we rescue her, and escape from this world. Understood?"

"Understood", Noel replied without hesitation. Even with all he had seen since first coming to Faraway Lands, Pelagio's inhuman gaze combined with the sudden undercurrent of menace in his voice remained something he couldn't stand for very long. "I never meant to suggest otherwise. Of course, saving Tsuru- saving Saber from the Shadows is our first priority."

"Once we find her", Julian pointed out, glancing out at the vast Noir city spread before them. "I think that's gonna be the hard part, prolly."

Turning back to the mission at hand, Pelagio took a moment to reach out with every one of his enhanced senses, picking up lights, sounds, cognitions living peaceful, happy lives within the structures, ignorant of the Shadows prowling around outside... completely unaware that there even was an outside...

"Hex", he spoke just when Jiachi was about to wonder aloud if he'd fallen asleep. "Hex will know. We merely need to find, and question him."

Mira blinked in surprise. "What? We can't go back to Tosashimizu now, we have to-"

"We're not", Julian explained, his voice strangely harsh as he slammed a hide gloved hand into his palm. "Hex showed up _here_. He messed up our infiltration. _He's_ the reason Saber got caught. No mercy."

"Some mercy", Pelagio corrected without looking back at him. "For one thing, we are still not sure if this version of Hex is human, or merely a cognition. For another, we need him to be able to talk if we are to properly question him."

"The urban vigilante", Noel commented, a momentary surge of excitement tempered by the realization that they would soon be going up against Tosashimizu's very own urban legend.

"Or at least, a cognition of him", Julian admitted. "I kinda hope that's the case. Then we don't need to worry about roughing him up so much."

"I do not", Pelagio said. "A cognition in this place will likely possess little information for us, and merely repeat what they have been ordered to. But enough idle speculation. Let us hunt."

Then, before any of them could protest, he stepped out of the stone alcove and dropped.

"Dramatic as ever", Julian noted with a half chuckle, vaulting off his feet, smirking despite their situation. "Well, you heard our glorious new featherbag leader. Let's roll!"

Neither Noel or Mira moved to follow him for a moment, instead staring at each other in some mixture of disbelief and amazement. "I know it's hard to believe sometimes", Mira admitted, giving a shy smile towards their new member. "It's a completely different world here, with its own rules. Sometimes, I wonder if I'll wake up some day, and find none of it actually happened. But I'm still waiting for that to happen. And... Believe it or not, this world actually helped me out."

Pushing off the grimy brick, Noel nodded slowly. "I... I know what you mean, Sorano-chan. When my Persona awakened, I..."

Mira's warm smile grew. Somehow, even in the middle of all this horror, some small part of her could still appreciate and find comfort in Noel's bright crisp hair and handsome young face, the look of abject wonder on it, of _awe_ at the new world spread out before him as well as the changes it had clearly wrought in him.

Just as it had in her.

"Remember", she said in a teasing tone as she walked up to the edge, one foot dangling over it. "Code names now. We've both changed. I'm Dancer. And you're Mender. And... welcome to our crew."

Spreading her arms outwards, she fell, the supernatural grace of her namesake helping her safe descent down to the street below.

Less enthusiastic about the drop ahead of him, Noel took a moment to stare into the space where his Persona had suddenly materialized, the cross-shape floating in the air without any visible sign of opinion, metal arms dangling limply down from the crystals.

"Dellingr", he murmured. "Is this really...?"

Silence. The machine-like Persona was incapable of communicating in the traditional sense. Instead, a series of tones emerged from the tiny holes in the metal like music, a message drifting through the air that only he could understand.

"...I see", he nodded, eyes fluttering shut and snapping open. "Yes, of course. They're all good people. Even if they would not aid me in my ends, I would still help them."

It was all he needed to take the final step, following his new comrades downward into the darkest depths of the city.

* * *

Enemy Profile #13: Saint Elmo

Arcana: Star

Strength: Water (Drain), Curse

Weakness: Bless

Abilities: Aques, Malaqua, Infectious Claw (Disease), Tentarafoo (Confusion), Rakunda

Background: Originally known as Saint Erasmus of Formia, the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Martyred by the Roman Emperor Maximilian and thrown into the sea in a barrel, but later brought back to life by an angel. He is said to have continued preaching even after a thunderbolt struck the ground beside him. This prompted sailors, who were in danger from sudden storms and lightning, to claim his prayers. The electrical discharges at the mastheads of ships creating plasma were read as a sign of his protection and came to be know as 'Saint Elmo's Fire'.

* * *

Persona Profile #10: Dellingr

Arcana: Death

Strength: Bless

Weakness: Curse

Abilities (So Far): Tarunda, Media, Diarama, Patra, Rejesho

Background: High-ranking Norse God and the father of Dagr, the personified day. Dellingr in turn is considered to be the personification of the dawn's light as it spreads across the land to reveal the new day. Passages in the poetic Edda describe his marriage to Nott, the personification of the night.

* * *

A/N: 'I'm not quite dead!' Just job hunting, and now working full time. I'll try to keep up as best I can now that I have some backlog again, but no promises as these chapters are getting longer and longer, and there's a lot of big fight scenes coming up.

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Also Persona Q2.


	39. Light the Fire Up in the Night

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _We Are Sisters, Brothers All_

 _Takes More Than Strength To Make Us Fall_

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Evening

A vacant quiet had fallen on the city, even the barely-perceptible sound of the zeppelin motors overhead not even a whisper in the damp air. At some point, a substantially full moon had intruded over the sky, only to be cast into relief by another one of the bulbous dirigibles.

To Hex, it felt like the entire place was holding its breath for the next big 'bang'.

There had certainly been enough action lately to justify that gut feeling. Multiple criminal incursions all across the breadth of the sallow metropolis, resulting in battles between criminals and the police that had left the harbor a ruin and damaged several other buildings, possibly endangering the lives of the citizens within as well.

This city lay shrouded in an eternal night. It never rested for long, and neither did the internal rage at Joker, at all of the criminals who put innocents at risk.

And yet... _That criminal gang leader. The one with the pirate hat. She seemed... familiar. Could she actually be...?_

Contemplating the possibility from a rooftop perch drowned out the approach of a light drizzle, peppering the eavestroughs as thoughts from another lifetime came meandering back.

 _That girl... She had Aiko Tsuruga's face and voice, and yet she fought like... No. Impossible. She has no training, and this is my place. I don't want her here among the criminals._

 _Yet, if that really was her... Then it's too late. She's joined the criminals, and needs to be brought to justice. That theatrical attire, so much like Joker's... If she's really fallen in with_ him _, then she's in even worse trouble than I thought._

 _I have to find her. Her colleagues are small-timers. Police can pick them off any time, without needing my help. Last time I saw them was around this area. Should check around for signs, find her and help her. Then go after Joker for daring to mess with my friend and bring her into this city full of sinners._

The drizzle ended abruptly, bracketed by a fair wind carrying the noise of the motors and police sirens along with it.

Hex didn't think anything was odd about that until the breeze suddenly surged into a brutal torrent that ripped him straight off the roof down onto a lower section of tarmac.

 _An attack? Maybe Tsuruga?_

Reflexes born from a thousand urban brawls had three darts in hand before rolling back to his feet, but then a shot rang out, blasting them out and hurting the hand. Another shot struck near his feet, making him hesitate before a bright blue explosion struck, knocking him straight down to the floor. The smoke bomb still went off, but more blasting wind cast the concealing cloud away, leaving him vulnerable to the descending, screaming maniac with the sword, the raw force of two slashes across the flank casting him back.

 _Tsuruga's gang,_ he had just enough room to think. _Come back for revenge for getting their leader arrested._

There was absolutely no hesitation in their actions this time, no cajoling words trying to make a truce, or even a taunt. Any attempt at a counter was immediately met by a gust of wind, a crackling lightning bolt, a precise gunshot or the brutal slash of a broadsword, and it wasn't long until that sword hung suspended at his throat covering, the others gathered around ready to support if needed.

There were four of them, Hex saw. Two of them were instantly familiar- the armored knight clad in metal feather-looking protrusions with the enormous beak-shaped helmet leading the charge, and the red-jacketed one with the bandanna covering one eye and twin pistols at his belt. However, Tsuruga- if that truly had been her before- was missing from the ambushers. In her place, there was a loosely-clad dancer woman with an exotic headdress and necklace. Beside her, there was a tall figure wearing a metallic-looking mask and wide-sleeved, priestly robes who didn't seem to have taken any aggressive action yet, merely standing by.

The primary concern, of course, was the armored knight. Or more appropriately, his sword.

"Toldja", the red-jacketed boy remarked, his voice a mixture of cold anger and triumphant pride. "If the Shadows hadn't interrupted us last time, we totally would've won. This bastard's nothin' but smoke and mirrors."

"Perhaps", the bird knight said more icily, tightening his grip on the blade. "But it is his knowledge, not his combat prowess, which matters to us now. Mender, please make sure he has no chance to break free."

The metal-masked priest nodded after a moment of hesitation, invoking some strange power that manifested beside him as a cross shape of metal and gems. _"Tarunda."_ In mere seconds, Hex felt considerably weaker than before the ambush had struck, barely able to resist the blade any longer.

"Our captain", the knight began, "has been taken away by the Shadows. Kindly tell us where they might have brought her, and you may live to fight another day."

Behind the black pentagram mask it was impossible to determine actually what the vigilante was thinking, but the anger in the reply made it clear it wouldn't be so simple as interrogating a defeated Shadow as their leader did sometimes.

"I have nothing to say to criminals. If that girl is your leader, then she's on the wrong side, and it's good that the police have caught her."

While his blade did not relent, Pelagio suddenly looked less energetic. "...Perhaps this truly was nothing more than a specialized cognition all along. Only they and the Shadows could hold such an infantile view of this Land."

Frowning, Mira drew closer, trying to determine if Pelagio was right or not. If he was, they'd likely wasted their time. "You really think so? But this one fought back, and so far all the cognitions we've seen here were just bystanders. I've never seen a cognition get violent. And if he was a Shadow, he would've transformed by now."

Turning from him back to Hex, she focused her eyes into the unfeeling black gloss that concealed eyes. "Please listen. Saber is a human, like us. She's trapped in this world of yours. All we want is to get her out, and then leave your city. We're _not_ criminals. So please..."

Hex went silent, head down, motionless without any sign of attack.

After so many seconds, Pelagio was about to wonder aloud if he had triggered some kind of suicide mechanism when the black-masked head rose back up towards Mira, all the earlier hostility vanished.

"...Sorano-chan?"

Mira froze up, feeling the curious gaze of the others on her as well. Memory and intuition finally struck a spark, and she could only stare back at the dark visor in shock.

"...Take off your mask", she asked, too absent-sounding, too frightened to for it to be a command like Pelagio would have done. "Show us your true face. Please."

All the earlier resistance been drained out of Hex on the earlier utterance. Slowly, without any hint of threat, black-clad arms reached up to take hold of two small handles at the back of the pentagram mask. Pressing the two inwards with both hands produced a sharp hissing noise, releasing the lock and allowing the entire rig to be lifted free and cast down on the dusty pavement of the alley.

Now everyone else could share in Mira's surprise, unable to do anything but stare into the ashen human face that stared back at them, nearly as awestruck.

Finally, Mira snapped out of it, able to speak again. "Hayato-senpai?"

The second one to recover, Pelagio lowered his sword. "Of course. The true Hex."

"The ruler of this Land", Noel realized, equally thrown.

Sunken-eyed but smiling for what felt like the first time in weeks, Reiha nodded back, speaking without the mask, without the intimidating masculine growl that they'd gotten used to coming out of it, her dark hair spilling out of the collar.

"Guilty, guilty, and... guilty."

* * *

At some point, there was a new voice.

Aiko couldn't tell exactly when. Time had no meaning in this place, where pain regularly engulfed the senses until the body's only option was to perform a sort of emergency shutdown, deaf to everything except the occasional sound.

But this sound didn't sound like the cloying voice of her tormentor, the awful black-gowned Shadow with Reiha Hayato's face who worshiped pain as a release. Who called pain a God.

The thing that truly stuck out to her wasn't anything to do with her appearance however, but the last time she'd managed to get together enough strength to speak up in defiance.

" _You call pain a release? It's just_ pain _. Why don't you try it for a bit if you like it so much?"_

But the suggestion hadn't even fazed the strange Shadow who called herself Mistress Kaneshiro. Dark flowing lips smiled that horrible fanged smile.

" _Do you think that I haven't felt it? That is how we find our loyal defenders of justice. We can't accept just any Shadow into our ranks. Only one who endures this will come to understand the gift I have given them. They understand that the only worthy purpose they have is to protect the citizens, the ones who have not yet been tainted by tragedy."_

" _In other words, you torture them until they agree to serve you. That's_ not _justice."_

But by then, the Shadow had revealed another surprise, pulling the opera glove on her left arm loose with her right, holding it limp and close in the other hand so that Aiko could see the dozens of tiny thorns inside of the sleeve, in case the collection of lightly bleeding marks all over the exposed arm wasn't proof enough.

The grin became one of unbridled euphoria. _"You see, dear? This lovely collar and my gown are the same way. They fill me up with the blissful pain to grant me power. When we are done here, you too will be able to transform your pain into power. If you wish, you may even take one of my outfits. Oh, you'll look so good..."_

The mere thought of that had left her too disgusted to talk back any more. Even the Shadow seemed to recognize that, choosing to leave the room.

To leave her alone with the thorns.

With the pain.

This voice couldn't be Reiha's Shadow, returning to check on her victim to see if she'd given in. It was different. Accented, yet familiar, though she couldn't yet place exactly where...

"What are you doing? You must wake up."

 _W-what...?_

"This is not mother. Mothers appreciate their children. They love them in actions, not merely words. Their eyes hold only joy at the sight of you."

 _Right. You..._

"Without a sense of self, of thine own purpose, you are vacant. A vacant one has no power. You must awaken, and find your purpose."

 _Not that Shadow's purpose, never... But, what then? I don't know..._

"Remember our contract. Remember who you are, and who you wish to be."

 _I... I want to protect them..._

"That is not enough! Without the strength of thine true desire, without a sense of self? One so vacant cannot protect anyone. Think!"

 _But I... I can't lead... I don't deserve...!_

"Why not? Are you not more deserving than a dog, or a mere negative shell of a human, a Shadow?"

 _No! I..._

"Or, do you believe that Shadow's words are truth? That your only purpose in the world is as a protector of others?"

She could no longer feel her brows knit, or the muscles in her face tighten up by reflex.

 _Never. I'll never yield to that. No matter what. But..._

A polite pause, and then:

"Yes. And yet, that pain... What you have been feeling is the pain felt by thousands, millions of humans all across their world. The pain of starvation, the pain of injury, the pain of addiction. And the worst of all... the pain of losing a beloved one."

 _Across the world... That's why I..._

"Why you sought to cure the pain of those in need? Or, why you so eagerly sought to forfeit yourself to that cause?"

Silence filled the void, agony that had once wracked her becoming little more than white noise as she realized the truth.

 _I really am no better than Mira, or Jiachi when they went through the gate._

 _I wasn't seeking pain._

 _I was seeking death._

"Sacrificing your life for a world that you know nothing about beyond your own nation? Less? No. Sacrificing yourself for _any_ purpose, without your own will. Personas are very the essence of purpose, enmeshed in the collective memory of mankind as legends... how can one who lacks it expect us to come to their aid?"

 _Wait._

 _Wait._

 _ _'Us?'__

 _Of course. Of course. How could she have forgotten so easily?_

It was the voice of Anne Bonny calling out to her.

* * *

In hindsight, the 'city hall' seemed obvious. An enormous building among a collection of enormous buildings, it stood out through a circular pavilion framed by endless rows of curving windows towards the top, all framed by large, movable floodlights that could illuminate it from a distance. More of the lights and the city's ubiquitous silver rings adorned the catwalk along the very top, possibly for the task of illuminating zeppelins as they docked with it.

"Restocking their crew", Pelagio remarked softly from the relative safety of their hiding spot beneath statue of some type of gargoyle with wide, overcast wings- they'd tested it thoroughly to ensure it wouldn't come to life and attack. "Hmph. I should have been watching their movement patterns more closely; this is the building each of them docked at regularly."

"It can't be helped, Guardian", Noel reassured him from over his shoulder, surveying the massive concrete edifice for more signs of the enemy. "At least we know now."

"Thanks to Hayato-senpai", Mira nodded more brightly. Even if the building in front of them was more than likely packed with Shadows, what mattered was they were finally making some real progress towards saving Aiko.

Though she did not wear the black-visored mask, Reiha did not seem quite so enthusiastic, the protective kevlar bodysuit masking her presence better than the other's outfits. "That girl doesn't belong in here. None of you do. You need to grab her and get out of here."

"And you too", Jiachi commented, having completed his own sweep and finding a gap in the searchlights. Whatever elation he'd felt seeing Hex unmasked had been short-lived, Reiha's refusal to share any more of the truth with them most aggravating to him of everyone. "Hayato-senpai, please listen. To Sorano, or to me. I know how it is. I've been exactly where you are right now. This world is just a trap with bait. It's not even freakin' real."

The older girl smiled back, if only slightly. "Huh. I figured it might be something like that. But you're wrong, Rosea-kun-"

"Gunslinger", he corrected politely. "And just how am I wrong about that, huh?"

For a moment Reiha looked like she might demonstrate her viewpoint directly, then decided against it and merely clenched her gloved fist. "When you get hit here, it hurts. It's no different from the other world. When you hit something hard enough it breaks, just like the other world. This place might be different from what we're used to, but as far as I'm concerned... it's just another reality."

"The fact that we're using code names to avoid people hearing our true ones is proof enough that you are incorrect", Noel argued back, looking pained at how much she was resisting any effort to make her leave with them. "This is the collective world of people's dreams. And this Land is the Land of your dreams."

Pausing for a moment, Reiha turned and lifted her Hex helmet. "Maybe. But this city still needs a hero to protect it. You're gonna tell me the citizens here don't feel pain when criminals attack them?"

"Not in the way that real humans do", Pelagio pointed out. "But this argument can wait until our captain is safe."

"Got that right", Reiha nodded, halting on putting the black mask back on for another moment by a stare of genuine interest in their current 'temporary' leader. "By the way... who exactly are you? I recognize Sorano-chan, Rosea-kun, and Vitienne-kun... but I can't place your face. Prolly 'cause you've got a full helmet like me. Care to take yours off before I put mine back on?"

Pelagio's large eyes stretched wide in surprise before narrowing in amusement and tapping his steel-beaked 'helmet'. "Hmph. It does nor come off. I am, shall we say... _different_ from the others here, Reiha Hayato."

"No kidding. I'd definitely recognize a male student who talked all formal like you do. Got lost on the way to the Royal Shakespeare theatre, kiddo?"

"You shouldn't put that helmet back on anyway", Mira urged her worriedly. "You didn't even recognize us as friends until you took it off. It obviously does a lot more than just change your voice to be more threatening."

"Duh", Reiha retorted. "It also protects my head, and hides my face. Don't you worry. I know you're not criminals. You were just dressing up like Joker and his minions do, so I made a mistake. Sorry about that."

"Like Joker and his..." Mira trailed off before shaking her head. There was still so much she wanted to ask Reiha, but there was no time. "No. Guardian's right. We can't just wait around and trade questions any longer. Who knows what they're doing to Saber in there."

"I'm on it." Snapping the helmet back into the collar with the sharp hiss as before, Reiha reached into the toolkit at her waist, producing a foot-long black rod-shaped object. Taking a moment to ensure no searchlights were near their hiding spot, she carefully stepped out and took aim at the top balcony.

"Um... Gunslinger, wasn't it? If you could take a shot at one of the lower windows?"

Standing up, Jiachi looked thrown by the command, looking to Pelagio for clarification. "'Scuse me? The _lower_ windows, you said? That'll just set off an alarm though."

"The alarm's gonna go off as soon as you go in anyway", Reiha explained, the electronic distortion of her mask making a calm explanation sound more like an animal preparing to lunge for one's throat. "The only way to avoid it would be to go in from the dock, which you need a zeppelin for. But if an alarm goes off on the lower floors, it'll draw the Shadows down there and override the one you'll set off by entering through the balcony door."

"Hm. A clever plan", Pelagio observed approvingly, clasping his gauntlets and regarding the rod. "And what then?"

"Then I fire this. After Ros- after Gunslinger shoots out the window. Any time now."

Understanding her meaning, Julian nodded, stepping out beside her, reaching down, spinning and aiming one revolver in his right hand. "This okay?"

Reiha chuckled. "A showoff even here, huh? If you're ready, go ahead."

"He's changed", Mira pointed out, preparing her daggers as well, the tension from the action she knew lay ahead tightening muscles but not hampering her. "Before, he wouldn't have waited for Guardian's permission, or yours."

Jiachi smirked back. "That is so not true. But, uh... everyone ready? 3... 2... 1...!"

The noise of the shot was actually cut off by the alarm; a keening, wailing siren that seemed designed to spread its noise all the way across several city blocks. Yet this close, it was shrill enough to make talking difficult. Instead, Reiha silently pressed down on the rod, sending a rope flashing out across the gap to embed itself in the balcony wall's concrete.

"Grappling zipline hook", Julian observed approvingly. "Cool. Got all sorts of nifty gadgets in there, right?"

"Glad you have time to gawk", Reiha remarked harshly, burying the blade at the other end in the base of the gargoyle statue. "Hurry now. Grab the rope with both hands, and you'll slide across the gap."

Clamping down on any reservations, Mira went first, the ease with which she was able to slide along the cable over to the city hall balcony giving Julian the confidence to follow closely after. Hearing the way he shouted when his speed picked up didn't stop Noel from carefully grasping it, keeping the sleeves of his robe clear.

Vaulting up over the balcony rail with the agility that only her Persona could provide, Mira stared back across the gap. As she'd feared, Pelagio was the heaviest of the all, and the zipline slackened dangerously under his weight. Just as he looked like momentum might carry him all the way, she heard a cracking noise and the line flew back across towards Reiha's side.

Leaving Pelagio to plummet out of sight without a sound.

" _Guardian!_ "

Peering over the rail made her realize just how high up they really were- the rows of windows seemed to go down forever, limning an empty abyss without a visible bottom. Wind gusted up like raw anguish, and then...

"Hmph. How shortsighted. I should have tested it before."

Following the sound let her see the armored figure clinging to the side, both his sword and shield dug deep into the stone. Without waiting to see the other's reactions, he raised the sword out and jabbed it into a higher spot, slowly using the two as climbing tools until he could take Mira's offered arm.

"You're just as bad as Saber", she sniffed in the cold air. "Never stopping to think about your own safety."

"I may do that", he replied, "when the one I have sworn to protect is free."

"Better get going", Jiachi agreed, raising his voice to be heard over the alarm, his eye inevitably drawn to the small gash the zipline had left in the wall. "That's not gonna fool 'em for very long."

"What about Hayato-san?", Noel pointed over at the far rooftop where Reiha had been, only to have vanished. "She should-"

"She didn't want to come with us", Mira remarked with sigh. "That's why she waited for last. She still thinks that she belongs here. That's a fight for another day, and one I'm sure that Saber can help us win."

"And you knew that-" Julian forced his jaw back into place. "Who are you, and what have you done with Mirambela Sorano?"

"Code names please", she replied, a sly smile creeping onto her face despite her words. _Wow. Even Rosea-kun thinks that I'm being brave when I'm actually so scared it feels like I'm about to fall over._ "Remember, I'm Dancer."

Noel recognized that smile as well, echoing it before snapping his mask on. "Lead the way then. Saber should be close by."

Though Mira knew, 'close by' could turn out to mean 'only ten floors up' in such a massive structure. As hoped for, running through the first door they saw did nothing to intensify the alarms any further.

Even taking it in at a rush, they were struck by how ordinary the interior looked. Faded red carpeting led the way past dozens of plain-looking office stations and tables, all of it starkly devoid of the harsh gothic look of the city outside.

They were about to dismiss it and move on when dozens of glowing eyes appeared from every dark corner of the area, heralding each pair sliding out in the form of raspberry red slimes.

"'It'll draw the Shadows down there and avoid the alarm, rawrrr'", Julian mocked in a decent imitation of Reiha's electronically enhanced hypermasculine growl. "Yeah, so much for _that_ shit."

"Hmph. Don't complain", Pelagio ordered, quickly drawing his blade. "Besides, these ones look weak."

That estimation was quickly proven correct. While the jellies held up to physical force well enough, they were slow moving and crumbled easily when exposed to any kind of elemental power. Only Noel stayed put, merely standing in the rear and watching the fight play out until every Shadow had melted away into nothingness.

"I guess they were just too slow to follow their buddies downstairs", Julian considered after it was over. "Or too stupid."

"Either way, we should hurry before the heavy hitters realize they've been tricked", Mira pointed out as they arrived at the far end of the floor, spotting the entryway to a staircase along with an opulent elevator door. "So, stairs then?"

"Indeed", Pelagio nodded back. "The elevator is most likely a trap, particularly when the alarm is active. We climb."

Careful not to look down for various reasons, the four made their way out into the top floor. A long, gray marble lobby stretched out before them, framed by rows of elegant pillars and the same carpet from before, signs of a second tier balcony running all the way around before disappearing into a door at the far end.

"Cool. I see Hayato-senpai watched the Matrix too", Jiachi noted, more casual after the lack of resistance they'd encountered. "Good taste in films."

"Is that really how it works?", Noel asked eagerly. "The Lands are actually formed from random images within the ruler's mind?"

"Hence the Land of your dreams", Mira explained more regretfully. The memories of her own Land, a hybrid jumble of her homeland and advanced technology, would likely never leave her. "The city and the blimps too. I wonder if it affects the appearance of the Shadows?"

"Perhaps you can ask that one", Pelagio called to them in mild irritation, demanding their focus back to the task at hand. "We _do_ know him, after all."

Julian stared ahead, immediately forgetting all about movies.

There was only one Shadow in the lobby, slowly sauntering towards them, but it was a hatefully familiar sight; an extremely tall, lanky figure clad in a dark purple suit topped with frills, a white line running up into a chest on the chest. Above the frills, a white mask covered a featureless face adorned with red ink in a question mark shape. White gloves clutching a curving scythe nearly its own size, which descended to a ready position as it drew closer.

"Another lieutenant", Pelagio explained. "A high-ranking Shadow. Be on your guard."

"And the bastard who got Saber", Jiachi muttered in barely-contained fury. "That blade's got poison on it, FYI."

"Sounds like I'll be needed then", Noel noted. "Well, shall we? Illuminate the path forward, _Dellingr_!"

"Yeah", Jiachi snarled as the strange floating Persona appeared. "Let's show that skinny fucker what we're made off, and avenge Saber... Burn 'em down, _Wild Bill_!"

Seeing the cowboy-hatted legend materialize, Mira grinned and stepped forward to follow suit, heading towards the masked enemy without fear. "Right. This time, we have to win... _Chakacha, Oya!_ "

"Strike him down, _Galahad_ ", Pelagio commanded with less ceremony, replaced with sheer determined focus. "You, Shadow... You have dishonored us with a defeat. The only remedy is your destruction!"

The slender figure, unsurprisingly, said nothing. It seemed to be a trend for the Land's top Shadows, whereas the coral giant had only been able to speak in guttural animal noises. Instead, this one's response was merely to increase the speed of its pace down the hall towards them into a jog, and then a full-out sprint, bladed weapon at the ready.

Julian struck first, crying out in hurt rage as he unleashed a barrage from both revolvers. The slender Shadow didn't break stride, spinning its weapon and deflecting every shot until the next attack, a combination of Galahad's explosive power and Oya's lightning, crashed into it, kicking up an impressive smoke cloud.

Then the purple-tinted scythe flashed through the cloud, lunging for Julian's neck and coming within three feet of it until it crashed into an unseen barrier and flew back.

"Praesi", he acknowledged with a grateful nod to Pelagio. "Thanks, Guardian. You rock."

"Spread out", their assigned leader ordered without breaking stride to acknowledge the compliment. "Remain mobile. This one is extremely swift, and we may lack its weakness."

"Time to even that score then", Mira declared, spreading her arms to grant the speed-enhancing boon of Sukukaja to as many as she could before the enemy recovered. When it did, its own spell gathered, oil-shaded curse energy ripping into Julian until Noel could counteract it with a healing skill.

That was all the distraction Pelagio needed to get in close, his lunge barely parried by the Shadow's scythe in time. It turned that into a spin, casting his weapon away along the carpet but then Mira was there, pouncing from behind with both daggers and refusing to let go even when the curse spell struck her.

The enemy spun again, this time a full-body revolution that made Jiachi hesitate to fire on him until Mira was sent flying off with a startled cry. Landing gracefully on her feet, she clasped her hands to unleash a stream of wind, converging with Jiachi's fire skill into a blazing dervish engulfing their target.

"Hmph. You two have improved", Pelagio remarked in genuine awe as he watched the conflagration cover the Shadow completely. "Synchronizing your elemental skills in that way... well done!"

"Fire and wind seem to mix together well", Mira agreed brightly. "As do nuclear and lightning. Would you like to try that again, Guardian?"

But their leader shook his head. "No. That fusion didn't work as well as your combination with Gunslinger does. He may be weak to wind or fire, if we are fortun-"

He couldn't say any more, as the slender Shadow had emerged from the sirocco windstorm in a lunge towards Mira. Clucking in devilish amusement, Pelagio re-cast the Praesi shield spell, once again halting the enemy's forward momentum with a loud crash... and then did a double take as a _second_ Shadow, identical to the first, flew out of the storm and raked its scythe across Mira before she could dodge, injecting its lethal poison into her.

" _Two?!",_ Julian shouted, riddling the new arrival with shots while Noel hastily remedied the poison. "How in the hell...!?"

There was no time to question it further yet- both Shadows had turned their weapons on Noel and Pelagio, shrugging off attacks from the others and slashing through Pelagio's guard to envenom both their targets. Panicked, Mira and Julian unleashed their combined skill again, once again covering the area in the super-heated wind.

"I think...", Pelagio was able to stammer once his poison was cleared up by Noel and Dellingr. "That this must be the mirror image skill. I've seen it before. The Shadow is splitting its power up into multiple shapes. However, only one is real."

"'Only' one?", Jiachi wondered, eyes widening in terror as he saw the enemy recovering and preparing to strike. _Four_ identical images flew out of the cloud this time, each one heading for a different target at top speed. "Oh, crap!"

They all tried to block the rush in their own way, Julian with the tough metal of his revolvers, Mira with her daggers and Pelagio with his shield, but Noel had only a moment to look horrified before the curving blade descended towards his defenseless neck... and halted on nothingness. Another nearly invisible shield.

"Praesi _again_?!", Mira's jaw dropped. "Are you going to be alright if you keep that up, Guardian?"

"Our primary healer must be protected", Pelagio rasped, trying as usual to hide any sign of his strain. "Particularly if they continue this coordinated attack. We must hurry and find the real one."

"How?", Julian shouted, unleashing a wide wave of fire with Maragi to delay the lethal quartet's next attack for a moment, Mira following suit with Mazio's electricity to buy more time. "They all look the same, and they all _hit_ the same- like an effing semi truck!"

As if seeking to demonstrate his claim, Noel's assailant missed and ground its scythe into a pillar, nearly ripping it apart in one stroke. Ducking away from his cover, their new teammate turned to release Tarunda on the image attacking him before continuing to run, Dellingr's light casting long shadows along the walls as if followed after him.

 _Wait. The walls..._

Mira's realization nearly cost her a head as the image struck, firing off another curse skill when the spinning slash missed. Studying the floor after she'd been healed back from that confirmed it.

"Wait, look down!", she cried out, hoping she hadn't caused an equally fatal distraction for anyone else. "Look at the floor!"

Blasting his target back with a desperate fire skill, Jiachi frowned. "What? I don't see anything."

"Only one of them casts a Shadow!"

Pelagio's large eyes became larger still before studying the room and understanding. "Yes... yes, that's it! The one attacking Mender is the real one. Everyone, strike at that one together! I'll provide this- _Mafrei_!"

The staccato barrage of blue explosions pelted all four images like flashbangs, doing little real damage but giving the others enough time to focus on their real target. The Shadow had its weapon raised again, ready to rip into Noel when a bullet struck its blade, ruining its aim and followed up by a stronger, more concentrated bolt of lightning crashing down. Being closest to Noel, Pelagio was able to contribute directly, sidestepping his own attacker to stab the true enemy in its exposed back all the way to the hilt, actually producing a pained grunt from the enemy.

When it tried to raise the envenomed scythe to counterattack, another aimed shot from Jiachi slammed into it, finally knocking the weapon out of its hand and skittering along the smooth floor. "Got it!", he cheered. "Nice call, Dancer!"

"Thanks!", she managed to smile back at him, even among all the chaos and danger filling the lobby. Suddenly, the mirror images seemed that much slower to her, or perhaps that was merely the marvelous agility and reflexes that Oya and the Sukukaja skill granted her. "Just a little more, and we win!"

"Hmph. Focus please. This is too early to celebrate", Pelagio reminded them, indicating the way the quartet of clones had suddenly gathered together now that their secret was out. "I had a feeling that one was holding something back when it fought the captain."

As one, the trio of copies raised their scythes to the ceiling, drawing the team's eyes up to the simple light panels there, and able to clearly make out the way the oily curse energy from their combined skills had begun to rip into each panel, yielding crackling noises as each light was blotted out and the entire hall was cast into near perfect darkness.

Noel's mocking laughter haunted that darkness.

"Really? Trying to conceal your true self in the dark? Dellingr, let your dawning radiance reveal all!"

The rays that burst from the center of the hall- from the crystals covering their new recruit's Persona- spread out to illuminate the area as an enormous golden lantern. Though it wasn't nearly as balanced as the ceiling lights had been, leaving the far corners unlit and wavering around like some bizarre haunted mansion ride, Pelagio's raptor eyes could still see _everything._

Including that scythe someone had thrown at Mira, knowing that in the darkness she wouldn't even see it coming until it cut her in half. Casting Praesi once more brought him down on one knee... and then the _other_ flying scythe ground into that knee.

"Guardian!"

"I'm fine!", he lied, once again trying to fight off the poison and forced to take some of the medicine they had brought. "Focus on the enemy! They will likely target Mender next!"

They already had done that, he saw. The last remaining scythe had been passed over to the real Shadow, while the three fakes hung back, each one focusing some kind of support skill.

"Oh man!", Jiachi blanched in horror. "I recognize that- _Tarukaja!_ They're all pumpin' the main one's power way up!"

The triple strength boost didn't show itself in the Shadow's body, still thin as ever, but in its scythe. The weapon surged with the patchy black and red curse energy, swelling outward until it was over twice its original size. Either through exhaustion after all the dodging and healing or simple instinctual fear, Noel could only stare at it.

Then the building-sized blade fell. It burst through a last-second shield like glass, smashing down and actually tearing a hole in the marble floor.

On his hands and knees, Noel continued to stare, not quite believing what he was seeing.

"You... nein, _nein_... _why did you do that?!"_

Lying flat on the bottom of the resulting crater, grimacing in pain that he could no longer hide, Pelagio fought to speak.

"I... Galahad was out of energy... I had to protect..."

While neither of them seemed able to move any time soon, Jiachi and Mira were only momentarily paused by the sight of their temporary leader so badly hurt. As the Shadow strained with the effort of recalling the giant scythe for another attack, dozens of shots riddled it, accompanied by dagger thrown into the skull symbol on its chest, a bolt of lightning striking the handle and channeling the electricity into its victim, driving it down to its knees. Behind it, the three mirror images wavered strangely for a moment, then faded completely from sight.

Perhaps knowing it was already defeated, the Shadow made no effort to get back up in the last moments it had before the final bullet left a hole through its mask.

"Boom", Julian said, unable to summon his usual glib excitement no matter how he tried. "Headshot."

The Shadow's did not immediately disintegrate as its fellow lieutenant had. As the they watched, the perforated mask peeled away. The face concealed underneath might have been human once, but was covered in so much scar tissue that it was difficult to tell. Far more gruesome were the two gouged holes where the eyes should have been, and Mira had to look away for a moment in revulsion.

The misshapen slash of a mouth opened then, producing a high-pitched, broken voice before finally beginning to fade as its images had.

"Release... Yes... At last, release..."

Jiachi waited until it was completely gone before returning to Pelagio and Noel, the former showing no sign of movement any more. "Damn you", he sighed, trying not to weep as Mira looked to be on the verge of doing. " _Damn you_. You damned suicidal idiot. You really are just as bad as Saber!"

"Nein", Noel repeated, brushing off his own sorrow and standing up, sleeves folded almost ceremonially. "There is still one miracle I can perform here."

Behind him, Dellingr's light shone through the empty hallway once more, brighter than before as Mira and Julian could both sense an immense gathering of the Persona's power.

Behind his mask, Noel seemed serene, spreading his arms together with Dellingr's light. "Let this fading soul be restored to flesh... _Recarm_."

The rest of the hall fell back into darkness as warm, ethereal light descended on Pelagio's crumpled body in a vertical stream, light constantly flickering between the brightest of green and gold as it gathered around him even generating a brief ring of multicolored flowers, entering his body with a final flicker.

"What did you-"

Mira's voice cut off into a squeal when she saw Pelagio's raptor eyes flicker open. The awful-looking cracks all across his armor had not been completely erased by Noel's power, but they had been greatly reduced.

"That skill", he whispered in wonderment, amazement at being able to breath air once more. "I seem to have greatly underestimated you, Mender."

Noel looked like he'd just taken the last hit himself after all, barely able to stand but still managing to grin. "The Recarm skill. Sadly, it can only be used on the very recently departed, and as you can see, it takes a fair bit out of me. I'd... greatly appreciate it if we could avoid needing me to do that again today."

"We're all pretty pooped after all that", Mira noted somberly. Without the adrenaline rush of battle, exhaustion had quickly caught up to them. "I'm just glad that you're okay, Pela-tori."

"Code names, remember", Julian teased, averting his eyes.

"Shut up."

Carefully standing, Pelagio briskly nodded to the others, his usual bearing restored as well. "You two performed excellently as well. I feared that our strength would be hampered without the captain to lead us, yet we overcame that powerful Shadow."

"Naw", Julian chuckled. "If Saber had been here with us, we'd have owned that freak in half the time it took us. And you wouldn't have needed to die."

"No", Mira lamented, downcast. "She would've been the one to sacrifice herself instead."

Julian sighed. "Hey now, less gloom and doom, okay? Point is, we kicked its faceless ass, and Saber should be up ahead somewhere. That's the only reason that Shadow would be posted here. Not really much else up here worth protecting, yeah?"

"Y-yeah", Mira agreed, forcing a spring back into her step- thankfully, there was no need for them to carry Pelagio or Noel yet. "Sorry. I was just thinking about how Saber used to scare me when she really got into our fights with Shadows."

"Scare you?", Noel looked surprised. "But isn't she your friend?"

"My best friend", she nodded. "But... I think you'd have to see it for yourself, Mender. When Saber gets into it, she's like a force of nature. Stronger than any of us."

"I know what you mean", Jiachi echoed more reservedly, much less willing to admit anything ever scared him, much less a friend. "I like to think I'm a tough guy, but when we're in this world... Saber's the boss, no question. Guess I gotta train harder to catch up to her."

"Maybe", Mira allowed quietly. "But Mender just _revived the dead_. After this fight, I think I'm a little bit scared of _us_."

* * *

"What you're experiencing", the voice of Anne Bonny said, "is an infinitesimal fraction of the world's pain."

The trance's reprieve had been all too brief, and Aiko found herself once again struggling not to expire under the weight of it. It felt like acidic pressure, pushing in on every side without a care for the terrified morsel of flesh in between.

It felt like drowning.

"Have you finally pieced it together, vacant one? Do you understand? Your voyage is hopeless. You will never find the treasure you seek. You can never provide a balm to enough people to stop the inevitable. _Pain._ Pain will devour the humans of your world. It will turn them against each other, turn them feral until they have destroyed themselves and the farce of civilization is at last rightly put to bed."

The pressure remained, crushing, smothering, biting... She couldn't move.

But she could still think.

 _Maybe you're right. Maybe I was wrong._

 _I'm still only a teenager. I had no idea until now just how much suffering there is in the world outside of Japan. Or how much there still is here, even after the Phantom Thieves did what they did._

 _No one can carry that weight all alone. It's impossible. Saving people from the darkness that haunts their sleep and drives them to despair might actually be impossible. It's like you said. I'm... vacant. Empty. I don't know enough about the world to even begin to try to improve it._

 _But this, at least, I can do. I can save Reiha. I can save anyone else who gets trapped in this world, and give them back the lives they discarded._

 _When I did that for Mira and Julian, they changed. For the better, I believe. They didn't want to run away, to escape from reality any longer. Instead, they chose to face it head on._

 _That's what I will do, too._

 _I don't need to have experienced that pain myself to imagine it. I can understand it, and help others overcome it. If I am empty, then that just means there's room to fill up with something good._

 _I will not be vacant... and **I am not alone.**_

There was nothing to look at, no face or posture of Anne Bonny's to try and discern a reaction. Instead, it was merely felt. A surge of pride, acknowledgment.

"...Well done, young one. You are no dog. You are worthy of my mantle after all. Now, awaken. See the reality beyond the mask of pain."

When she blinked again, the white void was gone. Instead she was looking into a familiar face, upside-down and stretched into an expression of concern.

Julian's face, she realized dimly. And he wasn't upside-down. She was. At some point, Kaneshiro must have swiveled the rig she'd been bound to, set it inverted.

 _Blood rush to the head_. _No wonder I was seeing things._

Then the world shifted, moving back to the upright position, and Julian began working at the thorn-covered restraints. Behind him, she could see Mirambela as well.

Who seemed like she was looking at a wild dog, unsure if it was safe to approach.

 _No. She shouldn't look at me that way. Don't want her to be scared._

She tried to speak, but it came out as some kind of gargling noise, releasing a spray onto Julian's bandanna that felt like an equal mix of hot spit and blood.

"S-s-s..."

Far from offended, he merely smiled. "Nice to see you too, captain."

Then it hit her. Really hit her. This was _real_. It wasn't some kind of pain-induced hallucination or dream.

Kaneshiro- not mistress, _never_ mistress- was wrong. About everything.

Her friends were here. They'd come. For her. To take her away from this place that felt like a tomb, a crucible of suffering that even now hung in the air like a stench, permeating the room.

Then Jiachi's hands popped the second wrist binding and she fell forward into something, unable to stand without them. "Well", she heard Jiachi's voice, closer now, sounding faintly amused about something. "This feels nice. Not really the time though."

"No time for that", Mira agreed quietly. "You're just lucky Guardian is on watch duty. Mender, can you deal with some of this?"

"Of course", another, more refined male voice, one she couldn't place in her current state, offered.

Warmth covered her then, more than any human body could have generated, so comfortable that she nearly fell asleep, but then it was gone, leaving behind a numb, stinging feeling.

She opened her eyes, and for the first time in she couldn't say how long, it didn't hurt. Breathing didn't hurt any more. Neither did moving. There was nothing. Nothing when there should have been something.

 _Feel... vacant?_

She blinked again as the robed figure who had healed her pulled his mask back enough to make out his blue eyes. "V-Vitienne-kun?"

"Mender", Noel corrected her with a polite grin, tapping his metal mask. "For the moment. I'm glad to see you safe. This... place..." He studied the cushions around them, making a face. "I can feel the anguish released in here. Just what have they...?"

"Torture", Mira spat in revulsion. "That's all we need to know. Another reason why it's good Guardian's not coming in here to see. He might get too angry with whoever's in charge of all this."

"Kaneshiro", Aiko muttered. The word seared her throat. The memories it summoned brought on a headache serious enough to double her over. "What she calls herself. But she's actually-"

"Hayato-san", Noel finished. "We know. We met her."

"That can wait", Mira emphasized hard as she could, knowing that Aiko's automatic response would be to go find Reiha. "For now, we have to go home. It's been..." She caught herself, looking at Aiko then back into the cushioned room.

 _She's leaving a lot of pain behind her in there,_ she acknowledged grimly. _Taking a lot of it out with her. Just what kind of sadistic monster is this Shadow? I mean, mine was awful too, but..._

"It's been hours", she admitted. "We're not sure how many. That's why we want to get back home as soon as possible."

"Home", Aiko rasped weakly, as if trying to remember the word. "Home. Right."

Alternately glad to hear their leader's voice and horrified at how she seemed to be reacting, Jiachi produced some familiar items; a wide-brimmed hat, along with a cutlass and a belt.

"They had 'em locked away", he explained. "Guess it's good they didn't take the rest too."

Ai steadfastly avoided looking down. She didn't need to in order to know how shredded the rest of her captain outfit likely was, after everything. Gratefully accepting her hat, belt and the weapon within, she took an extra second to ensure her ruby shard was still there before turning back to Mira. "Okay. Let's go... home."

* * *

A score of various types of Shadow filed out of the elevator doors and into the top floor lobby of their 'city hall', the blaring alarms had stopped, but they didn't need any guidance from a superior to know that the intruders were still nearby. If they hadn't, the state the lobby was in would have confirmed it, numerous pillars crumbling apart along with the crooked gash in the floor.

One of them, an impossibly-scarred warrior with a blazing chestnut mane and glowing red eyes, numerous arrows and even several swords protruding from open wounds, surveyed the damage and sniffed the air through a crushed nose. "They're nearby", it announced without needing confirmation. "The criminals who dare threaten this city's peace and justice. Who oppose Mistress Kaneshiro's justice."

"Kill", several of the lower ranking Shadows muttered, barely able to focus on anything else. "Kill the criminals, kill the unjust ones! _Kill!"_

The large warrior chuckled quietly, drawing one of the swords embedded in its own flesh, briefly enjoying the exquisite pain as it slid free. This floor in particular held fond memories for many of them, as it was in these private chambers that Mistress Kaneshiro educated stray Shadows in her own special way, making them understand just how empty and meaningless their lives were, and that the only proper application of their strength was to protect the innocent and uphold her law.

In return for that commitment, she granted them all a wonderful present: The gift of pain. A pain that inevitably humbled even the most arrogant of their number into service. Certainly, there had been some failures when it came to this method; Shadows who were too stubborn or powerful to give in and realize the truth.

What that happened, the only choice was for them to cut their losses and destroy them- no matter how strong, no visiting Shadow had ever been able to match Mistress Kaneshiro in power, and the exceptionally powerful ones who submitted were further gifted with authority over the other Shadows. Potential usurpers became eager allies of justice, protectors of the city and its people.

Now, though, those lucky few were nowhere to be seen. All that was left was to take down the criminals who dared to attack city hall, who had dared to trick them into abandoning their posts with a fake intrusion. _That_ purpose would certainly keep the hordes of lesser Shadows united in their cause long enough to triumph over these wretches... Particularly if Joker had been the one behind it.

"Kill!", one of the more beastly Shadows hissed from behind. "Die in the name of justice!"

Its answer was a sudden, cacophonous revving noise that filled the entire ruined hall, loud and threatening enough to actually silence all the Shadows which had been rabidly murmuring their all-consuming need to kill the intruders. Their stunned silence led into a mad scramble to get away from the enormous rectangular figure blasting out of the hall's main door, crushing all in its wake.

Tightly gripping the wheel at the front, Jiachi hauled it hard right as soon as they'd cleared the crowd of Shadows, steering Pelagio's silver car form around the crumbling pillars and directly towards a tall bank of windows.

The reactions of the others made it clear why he's been chosen as the driver this time; no matter how she tried, Mira couldn't stop herself from screaming in fear, even in the back seat with Aiko, who had been shocked out of her previous trance for the time being by the sights and sounds of madness around them. In the front passenger seat Noel seemed calmer, but winced every time they hit a Shadow or an obstacle.

"Got it! It's just up ahead!", Julian shouted back to them, unable to hide the wild grin on his face. "Everybody hang on now!"

Only Pelagio was in any position to reply coherently, though even his voice seemed unusually tense as they crashed through the glass screens, roaring out into another weirdly plain office room. "This is the last time, the _absolute last_ time that we allow you to come up with an escape plan, Gunslinger!"

Swerving extra hard to punish his criticism, Julian cackled madly as another Shadow was too slow to dodge and was crushed beneath Pelagio's wheels. "That's ten!"

"Ah", Noel managed to utter from beneath a veneer of absolute terror, hands clutching his ducked head. "So you _were_ deliberately trying to run them over. I was wondering about that."

"Hey, why not? They're freakin' _Shadows,_ dude. Oh, and _brace!"_

Another screen shattered apart before the power of Pelagio's mass times velocity, and then they had a direct line to the line of windows running along the building's east wing.

"Here it is!", he called out, holding off the accelerator for several seconds before flooring it. "Everybody, hold on tight!"

One more Shadow expired beneath Pelagio's grille, and then they were zooming towards the final obstacle at a rate that seemed too supernatural even for this world, fast enough to outpace the crashing noise of the windows as well as the glass, along with a pained grunt from Pelagio as they pushed through and over the outside rail.

"Noooodon'twannadieeeee!", Mira screamed.

Under better circumstances, they might have laughed at how long it felt like Pelagio seemed to stick in the air, giving them a gorgeous view of the entire city, admiring the way it seemed awash with light in the scant moments before gravity overcame forward momentum.

Falling...

Falling...

Falling... The resulting wind drowned out even Mira's terror-filled screams, along with any others, and finally they slammed down hard into the highway below with enough force to crack pavement and make Pelagio stifle another grunt.

"Nailed it", Julian announced triumphantly, speeding down the long, wide road connected to the city hall building without pause. What few cars there were weren't moving. "Hah! And here you all were thinking I couldn't handle it."

"If you weren't driving right now", Mira grated out, "I'd..."

"I'm honestly not sure if what he is doing counts as _driving_ ", Noel pointed out, heaving mightily to regain the air he'd lost now that the worst of it was over. When he had it back, he dropped into a litany of biting curses only he understood.

"Everyone's a critic", Julian snickered. "Come on, you at least have to admit I'm the only one who could have gotten us through all that."

"Indeed", Pelagio's voice rumbled out from the trunk-covered motor before them. "You are the only one insane enough to try such a stunt. However, seeing as I am still nominal leader of this crew, I decree that the next time I use this form, _Dancer_ shall drive."

"Urp... That would be... nice", Mira managed over her fleeting nausea. "I don't have a license though. Sorry."

"Neither does he", Pelagio replied without needing to provide any evidence of that claim.

"I have a license", Noel said mildly. "Though, it's only valid in my home country, and certainly not to drive a talking bird that transforms into a talking car."

"Still better qualified than Gunslinger", Mira piped up after a pause, then turned back to their captain, concerned that she hadn't spoken at all since their escape. "Come on, that was a great setup."

"S-sorry", Aiko whispered, staring out the back window at the cityscape below. "I just..."

None of them knew what to say then, how exactly to approach their leader. "It looks like they did some truly vile things to you", Noel tried eventually, turning around in his seat to behold her. " _Vergebung_. If we had only acted faster, then..."

"We did all we could", Mira cut in, though it sounded more like she was talking to Aiko than anyone else, leaning down into the car cushions to get closer. "Besides, I know that Saber won't let it get her down for long. She's too strong for that."

 _Strong?_ Aiko sat up, dimly alert. The thought seemed like it had come from a completely alien consciousness. _Am I strong?_

Mira seemed to think so. Jiachi too. Yes. She remembered that.

How strange that made her want to cry.

They were watching her, waiting for an answer, she realized. Unless she said something right now, Jiachi might actually get distracted enough to crash on a nearly empty highway.

 _Fine,_ she considered. _Fine._

If pretending to be her old, naive self gave the others the courage they needed, then she could do that. For a little while, at least.

Maybe, if she could do it longer, she might be able to make _that_ mask a permanent one.

"Captain?", Pelagio's voice floated to her. "Are you alright?"

 _No. I'm not. And I might not ever be again. But..._

"Shaken", she blurted. "It's just like you said. That Shadow... the ruler of this Land... Kaneshiro. She's worse. Worse than any Shadow I've ever seen. She tortures other Shadows until they give in to the pain and submit to her. And..."

Julian's grip on the wheel tightened, his knuckles turning white. "'Kay, I'ma go back and shoot her in the throat. And everywhere else 'till the bitch stops twitching." Despite his harsh words, the car didn't turn.

"Later", Pelagio promised. "Right now, none of us are at full strength, especially the captain. I do not require a watch to know that this is the longest amount of time we have ever spent in Faraway Lands, which may carry its own risks. We must focus our efforts on escape for now."

"Yeah, yeah", Julian yielded in aggravation, carefully steering around a motionless van. "Sorry. I'm just mad, is all. I'll head straight for the Breach we saw around here."

"We're not safe yet", Mira pointed upwards, indicating one of the zeppelins, which had set a course to intercept them, the only one close enough to manage it. "That one's trying to catch up to us."

"Not if I floor it", Julian claimed, ignoring Pelagio's noise of protest. "Man Guardian, your speed is just crazy. Too bad you can't take this form in the real world, eh?"

"Hmph. If I could", Pelagio said, "I would never allow _you_ to drive me. Besides, the roads in Tosashimizu are far too short and packed for my maximum speed."

Noel laughed, seemingly out of the blue. Now that they'd overcome the worst of their mission, the sheer absurdity of the current conversation had come back to him. Even without Aiko, they'd overcome every obstacle in their path, every single Shadow, rescued their leader from the enemy's greatest stronghold. And now, despite everything, they were safely back out again too fast for any Shadow to catch up.

They were going to make it!

"So he transforms into both a ship and a car? How versatile."

"He can only become a car in this Land", Mira explained, indicating the now empty plastic flask she'd brought along for this occasion. "And only when we give him the water from Faraway Lands. His change is different with each Land."

"And not for very long", Pelagio admitted reluctantly, his voice emitting from the motor as if the car was haunted. "In fact, I feel that I am close to reverting to my true form now."

"No big", Jiachi gloated. "Just a little bit further, and there's no way that one can catch up to us. Actually, since I'm driving right now, can someone else kill their lights?"

"Why?", Noel asked.

"Because he likes annoying the Shadows by breaking all their toys", Mira sighed helplessly. "Fine. I'll do it." Still in her seat, she carefully withdrew her dart gun, taking aim on the flying vehicle chasing them, lining up her sights with the two floodlights at the front.

Stopped. "What the...?"

"Something wrong?"

"It's..."

Hearing her fright, Noel turned to follow her gaze, only to gape at the sight.

There was something wrong with the blimp. Dozens of blue spikes had began to emerge from within the massive dirigible, puncturing its exterior. They seemed small at such a distance, but he was easily able to calculate that they had to be multiple meters long each, at least. "G-Gunslinger, maximum speed! Now!"

Fighting off the instinct to turn and see for himself, Jiachi simply did as he was told. "You got it! Here we goooo!"

Mira could barely feel the wind buffeting her as Pelagio's motor was revved back up to the manic speeds that had gotten them past the Shadows. She couldn't take her eyes off the way the spikes were continuing to tear their way completely through the outer hull, multiplying, expanding and spreading endlessly until-

Mira turned away to cover her eyes from the flash at the last moment. The resulting explosion rocked everyone in their seats, accompanied by the sound of glass in countless windows shattering apart from the sonic boom. Looking back, she caught a brief glimpse of an enormous twisted metal skeleton falling towards the road at top speed. "Brake! _Braaaake!"_

There was a high keening noise from somewhere up ahead, and then they were flying, flying upwards and over, back down to slam into the concrete. Recovering, she saw everyone else looked jarred, but not crushed beneath the weight. Unhurt. _Glad we all buckled up. Of course if we hadn't, we wouldn't have survived this far with how crazy Julian drives._

Above them, their upended ride flashed several times, fading and distorting back into the familiar form of an armored bird-knight lying on the ground, just as shaken as the rest of them. "Ungh... I dislike that form. Its speed is far too dangerous to my passengers. Is everyone alright? Captain?"

"I'm fine", Aiko panted, struggling to stand. "Just got the wind kicked out of me."

"S-same here", Noel choked out. "Does anyone need healing?"

"No", Mira brushed herself off, staring just a few meters down the highway at the burning wreckage of the zeppelin. It had crashed down so close to them she could actually feel the heat of it on her skin, yet that heat wasn't enough to melt the collection of enormous ice spikes that had caused its destruction. Without the external covering, she could see that the spikes actually formed the shape of a single colossal snowflake. "At least we managed to avoid _that_."

"Barely", Jiachi remarked in his own shock at the sight ahead of them. "Holy shit, who did that? Who could?"

Then, as one, they heard the song.

The mysterious singer was talented, male and loud. Audible despite being out of sight for the time being, yet he sung it in a low minor key, making the previously triumphant lyrics sound far more like some nightmare monster creeping up towards a frightened child asleep in bed.

" _Oh, I come from the Land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun, where the hot springs blowwww."_

" _The hammer of the Gods! We'll drive our ships to new Lands."_

" _To fight the horde, we'll sing and cry!"_

Finally, the mysterious singer appeared from behind a wrecked car, another which had been upended by the crashing zeppelin. He clutched a massive steel hammer in one hand, hoof-shaped with a chain and hook on the handle allowing him to brandish it with disturbing ease. Horned battle armor of the same flawlessly shining steel covered him but did nothing to cover his face.

A face that looked impossibly smug, smiling as he finished the verse. _"_ _ **Valhalla,**_ _ **I am coming."**_

They all stared at him. The light of the fire glittered off the man's armor and in his eager eyes, which studied each of them for a second before a hungry smile spread itself over his face.

"Hey kids", Prince Taurus joked, the fire of destruction reflecting in his eyes growing ever brighter as he prepared his weapon for battle, the brutal power of Mithras manifesting around him. "How's it goin'?"

* * *

Enemy Profile #14: Macabre

Arcana: Death

Strength: Curse, Lightning

Weakness: Bless

Abilities: Tarukaja, Rakunda, Eiga, Maeiha, Blight, Rising Slash, Tempest Slash, Mirror Image

Background: Spirit in medieval oratory, embodying works of art with grim or ghastly atmosphere. 'Macabre' works of art or fiction tend to emphasize the details and symbols of death. Danse Macabre, or the "Dance of Death" works of art tend to depict the dead or Death itself summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave. Usually depicted as a skeletal figure in a black cloak with a sickle to reap humans. They were created to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain the glories of earthly life are. It is believed to originate from illustrated sermon texts.

* * *

A/N: 'To be continued'... hopefully sooner than last time.


	40. Divine Powers Battle

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Look Inside To Break The Seals_

 _Ascend To Realms Beyond The Real_

* * *

6/14 Saturday

Evening

This was far from the first time that Morgana had saved his life.

He'd heard the stories from Aiko Tsuruga, from the others. About how the sea of dark water reflected things in the sky that did not exist, or how it lay lined with dozens of islands of varying sizes. About the gargantuan Leviathan Shadows which prowled those waters, frozen bone maws eager to devour ships or, finding none of those, each other.

None of those stories really did it justice. No matter how important it was to stay focused, he felt his mind beginning to wander into appraisal of the scenery more than once, to the point that Akira Kurusu began to wonder if that was some innate side effect of the place.

"I don't think so", Morgana's voice came to him with just a hint of reproach. "I think it's just because you haven't been to the Metaverse in six whole years. Remember how long it took for Skull to stop pointing and gawking at every little thing?"

"This isn't the Metaverse", Akira protested mildly, holding tightly onto the wheel as they sped past a stone archway surrounded by dangerous-looking whirlpools. "It has the same kind of feel to it, sure. Another cognitive world, or the same one in a new form after we wiped the old one out... but it's _not_ the Metaverse. Your new form is proof of that, right?"

"Faraway Lands", Morgana's voice remarked in a dismissive tone. "That name seriously lacks the necessary style, in my opinion."

Thankfully, his earlier worries about surviving in this place had been alleviated when the water's touch had transformed his feline companion into a sleek black motorboat, similar in many ways to the strange tailed black van which had ferried the Phantom Thieves through the claustrophobic tunnels of Mementos so many times. The blue lights at the front functioned as eyes just as before, occasionally twitching, while the tail had hardened and become a powerful propeller.

While amply cushioned and large enough to make him feel safe, he knew that wouldn't have been the case if his entire crew had been there with him- this new form was faster, but smaller as well. Even with the van form, they had begun to become overcrowded towards the end of their travels with only two rows of seats for seven thieves.

"Oh really?", he countered, feeling himself slip into the currently abandoned role of Morgana's foil without any effort at all. "Then who named 'the Metaverse'? Did _you_ decide on that?"

"N-no!", Morgana protested. Akira had known him long enough to know when he was retreating from uncomfortable territory. Like most humans, he didn't like dwelling too much on unknowns, and pushing him further when he was the only thing between him and the endless ocean wasn't a good idea. "...But you have to admit, it was a fitting name, no?"

"Just as fitting as this one", he said neutrally. "Hey, this one must be it."

"Are you sure?"

"It matches the description", he nodded towards the cluster of towering buildings, the glare of floodlights peeking out from everywhere and several strange gray zeppelins drifting overhead. "Pretty hard to mistake it for anything else, like that one we saw with the floating castle."

"I guess", Morgana agreed reluctantly, veering off towards the starkly-colored city. "Hey! If this place had a bit more color and cheer to it, it might actually look kind of like Shibuya!"

"Maybe", Akira added hesitantly. There would need to be a lot more positive changes made before this Land could be considered even close to a match for the enormous district that he'd gradually come to think of as a second home.

For one, the 'Shibuya scramble' square was always choked with thousands, millions of people, most of whom always seemed to be in a massive hurry to get somewhere. By contrast this city was downright somber by comparison, a feeling only enhanced by the lack of any color but black or white and a greater percentage of tall buildings. _Except..._

Morgana said nothing, but the way his motor slowed down to a purring crawl made it clear he'd seen it too. An enormous ship already docked at the Land's harbor entryway, a long, thick-looking hull running flush against the curved shell composing the top, both looking to be composed of different shades of gold.

More strangely still, the top of the bright shell became a second, smaller deck, ending in an arrangement of stairs bringing to mind the pictures of Mayan ruins from Shujin history books. The top ended in an entryway nearly itself again the height of the hull, shaped like a fanged maw of some great serpent with sapphires for slitted eyes. The hull, which he could now see was decorated with numerous spiral patterns twining in on each other without end.

"Whoaaaaa!", Morgana allowed at last. "That one's _huge_! That can't be that bird-brained friend of Tsuruga!"

"Not a chance", Akira agreed softly, unable to take his eyes off it even while clambering off Morgana's deck. "I know that he can transform into a ship, but he wouldn't just sit here in the wharf while Tsuruga and the others were in danger, would he? More... do you feel that? Coming out from it?"

Transforming into a sight he once thought he would never see again- the diminutive round-headed biped with large, cute eyes beneath a black bandanna and the unshakable trace of feline features, a dagger clutched in one dexterous paw ready to fend off enemies and a yellow scarf flapping around his neck- Morgana waited before responding. "Oh? Ohhh. Yes, I can feel that too."

Not everyone would, Akira figured. After all, the hull and the top shell might have looked slightly sinister, but what his greatest sense, the much-disused Third Eye of the trickster, was warning him of was now so much more than simple garden variety uneasiness.

Inside of that gaudy shell was an intangible... _something._ A gathered knot of distorted awareness that reminded him most of a time a few years back, when on a foolish bet with Ichiko Oya to 'celebrate' his reaching the legal age to do so, he had actually become drunk enough to drift into a haze of clouded, unstable fractured consciousness... except that this felt considerably less wholesome than what he could remember of that mercifully brief period had ever been.

"Yeah", he breathed out in a rasp, sensing Morgana's uneasiness without looking and feeling a hand creep up to his head to try and massage away the pain. Deep inside of that scalloped golden structure was a hole in _sanity_. Something born of the purest form of madness that he had ever felt, surpassing even the wild desperation and delusions of the Phantom Thieves' most deranged targets. His headache got even worse when they got closer to examine the spiral-decorated hull more closely; for a moment, he felt the giddy urge to burst out laughing at absolutely nothing, and perhaps never stop.

Then he _heard_ that dark, twisted laughter come to life.

It wasn't him, he realized with alternating shock and relief. The laughing sounded like him, but thankfully his mouth wasn't opening. As one, he and Morgana turned around to find the source of it waiting eagerly for them.

He was perched up on one of the stacks of shipping crates, booted legs folded casually, one saddled across the other, red gloved arms holding him in place as he leered down at the two of them, a grin plastered across his face only enhanced by some kind of black tracings at the corners of his pale lips. While his eyes lacked the telltale inhumanity of a Shadow, his skin was far too drawn and pale to possibly be natural, actually shading into a noxious semi-turquoise around the tips of his cheeks, spots of diseased yellow in other places.

But aside from all this, everything else from his shape to his attire to his mask were a perfectly identical copy of Akira's Phantom Thieves outfit. _No,_ he realized. That wasn't quite right. Not an exact copy. _This one is younger, thinner. Ganglier. He's the same age that I was at the time of the Phantom Thieves._

Not-Akira laughed again, even more maniacally than before, his head arching all the way back before he vaulted off the crate, giving an ironic little bow. "We will take this country."

"Oookay", Akira observed, blocking whatever uneasiness the ship and now the young doppelganger might have caused him with dry wit. "Guess someone had a bit too much pocky?"

"A Shadow?!", Morgana yelped in equal confusion. "No, that can't be possible! You overcome that part of yourself years ago! He has to be a cognition."

The impostor's stance dropped into a sleazy, hunched position which seemed to be his default posture, drawing a familiar knife from within his black coat. "Hahaha... That's right! Before that happens, we will take this country!"

Keeping a safe distance from the clearly loopy being, Morgana nodded his round head. "Of course. That settles it. It's most definitely a cognition of you, Joker."

"Looks like someone doesn't have a very high opinion of me", Akira commented disgustedly, drawing his own identical knife and wondering for the hundredth time if he still had the winning edge that had saved the world six years ago. "This guy looks like a drug addict or something."

"More importantly", Morgana noted. "He's repeating the same lines. Remember? That's from only time the public ever heard you speak as the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

The gun was next, once again a perfect match for Akira's own. He hadn't been able to keep the arsenal he'd bought from Iwai's shop long ago, but a simple toy had metamorphosed into a facsimile of his favorite gun the moment they'd stepped into Faraway Lands. The crackhead impostor's weapon looked every bit as deadly.

"We will take this country! Heehahaha!"

"Yeah yeah, we heard you the first time", Akira snarled, fighting the urge to look away. No matter how he joked about it, this ranked up there in the most unsettling things he'd seen. The gangly impostor had his coat. His swagger. His _voice_ , yet even that was twisted into something close to the villain of an extremely disquieting slasher film that Haru Okumura had taken him to once.

He hadn't slept at all the following night.

"Joker", Morgana's urgent chirp brought him back to himself, the utterance of his code name itself a fond memory rusted over until now, clearing away the mental dust. "We can't afford to waste any time. Samesaji came here to ambush the Dream Voyagers; that eyesore is probably his ship. You go on ahead and stop him. I'll deal with this... thing."

 _Thank you._ The thought popped into his heard instantly. He hadn't been looking forward to fighting the impostor, not because he feared defeat but simply because it meant having to look at and listen to him more.

Still, some courtesies simply had to be observed. "You're sure, Mona?"

Morgana gave a mischievous chuckle, blissfully reminding him of what a mentally healthy person's laugh sounded like. "You're doubting my skills? I won't be long. He's only a cognition, after all. He's based only on what this Land's ruler knows about you, which as you can see, isn't very much... and I'm guessing that they don't know how Personas work either."

Taking the lead, he stepped in front of Not-Akira and focused his round blue eyes. "Time to shut him up! Arise, Mercurius!"

The way the black-winged, blue-robed figure burst into substance next to him quieted most of Akira's greatest fear when stepping into this new cognitive world; that some niggling regulation might prevent the Phantom Thieves from calling on their Personas here. If anything, Morgana's ultimate Persona looked large and more impressive than ever before, a wider wingspan than before protruding out of its boots nearly enough to enclose his fake, luxuriously bright golden bands wrapped around both the lean arms and an opulent winged staff at the ready, even thinner legs hanging down by the golden boots, red wings jutting out from the top of a black corseted torso like eyes.

"Strange", he noted teasingly. "For someone who hates Pelagio so much, you have an awful lot of wings on your Persona. Is there something that you're hiding, Mona?"

His old friend- the one who had been with him from very start- glared back at him in a distant way that suggested he couldn't believe Akira was stopping to talk like that to someone currently wielding such power. "S-shut up! That pompous bird-brain just annoys me with his preening, that's all! Acting like he's so pure and noble! You should get going!"

The fake ignored Akira as he ran past, looking up at Mercurius' radiant power before smirking horribly, still a warped parody of the true Akira even if he wasn't a Shadow. "That's right. Before that happens..."

Akira didn't bother to listen to the rest of the fading litany, instead sprinting forward into the main part of the city, his familiar Phantom Thief coat flapping behind him like some kind of dark security blanket.

It wasn't long before he'd forgotten all about the impostor. What he was doing now was much more enjoyable than anything related to that.

He smiled. _Like riding a bike._

All his prior worries had been unfounded. He could still leap and dash around with agility that impressed even himself, agility that exceeded even the other Phantom Thieves back then. And this enormous city, whatever its other faults, felt like it had been perfectly designed for someone like him. It wasn't long before he was gleefully speeding up and down dour stone masonry, jumping from perch to perch like some crazed pigeon and easily dodging every single searchlight, zeppelin and Shadow.

 _All this time, I thought I'd grown up... But if not enjoying this ride really is a mark of adulthood, than I guess I really am still a child at heart. Guilty as charged._

It was true that he was a bit taller than he had been six years ago, a larger target. His formerly wild frizzy hair had been tamed somewhat, cut down to a shorter more regulation form to match his teacher's glasses. But the instant that those glasses had transformed themselves into his familiar white domino eye mask, he knew he hadn't lost it after all.

Which was good. Because he had an unshakable feeling he was going to need every bit of those old skills before today was over.

* * *

"It seems impossible that I haven't met you all before now", Prince Taurus remarked amidst the crackling fires and wreckage that had blocked off the Dream Voyagers' escape route. The red horn-headed Persona, Mithras, advanced beside him as a lethal spectre smelling of fresh blood. "Heck, some of you might not even know who I am!"

"We know who you are", Jiachi was first to find his voice again, gazing back in determination not to show fear. "You're Guiledhalsim Samesaji."

Taurus laughed out genuine mirth. "Ha! Good one! But you'd know, wouldn't you? I met your Shadow, after all. I sure hope you've gotten stronger than it was, or this will hardly be any fun at all."

Instantly understanding the danger in his words, Aiko shakily stepped forward, trying to be a leader once again no matter how she felt inside. "You're from the Masked Circle. Like Lady Scorpio."

"Got it in one", Samesaji nodded, pleased to be recognized. "But I'm getting ahead of myself here. She's the boss, so I do have to make this offer before I get my turn."

"Offer?", Noel asked in confusion.

"The same offer she gave your leader a few weeks ago", he explained, gesturing towards Aiko. "Who knows? Maybe she's come to her senses by now as well. But this offer goes out to all of you."

"We have no time for this foolishness", Pelagio growled. "The Shadows will be upon us soon."

"No worries, beaky", Samesaji assured them. Behind him, the air chilled itself to near zero as a large wall of ice formed itself into place between the guardrails of the highway. "I also killed a lot of them around here to send 'em a message, so I don't think we should be interrupted. If we are, leave it to me to take care of them. My treat."

"That power...", Pelagio seemed momentarily thrown by how fast the ice wall had formed. "Captain... that is a top-level ice skill! We must use the greatest of caution!"

"I know", she acknowledged. "His ice took down the zeppelin." _Bad. Bad bad bad. Jack Frost has Bufula, but this guy's leagues beyond that, and we're all running on fumes._

 _And yet... Somehow, I don't seem to care._ The expected tremors of fear running up her bones were nowhere to be found. _Still, I'd better drag this talk out long as I can... and pray for a miracle._

"Ice melts", Jiachi said, bucking up as much feigned confidence as he could muster. "Especially if you expose it to my fire."

"Yeah! That's the spirit!", Samesaji grinned savagely in approval. "It's no good if your enemy has no confidence of their own. But like I said, I'm jumping the gun here."

Taking a deep, overly formal breath, he regarded each of the Voyagers in appraisal. Just as the last time she'd seen him, it was easy for Aiko to recognize a 'hearthrob', a man with a fresh, handsome face well-practiced at charming women his age or younger, healthy dark hair braided into several colored locks at the back. A common sight on the streets and alleys of Shinjuku, and just like the club hosts of that unique district he obviously used that gift for corrupt purposes. His single spiral earring dangled as he spoke.

"I can see that you've all got Personas. That's good. That's what we _want_. The more people have them, the better. Without them, humans have no chance of surviving into the next century... at least, that's what Lady Scorpio says."

"And you just go along with that?", Aiko chipped in with exaggerated scorn, trying to buy them more time. "A bull who follows a scorpion's commands? Have you ever heard the fables about scorpions?"

Taurus just shrugged in good humor though. "Her Persona's powers let her peer into people's minds and into this dimension. Mine just let me destroy anyone who pisses me off. It wasn't really hard for us to decide who should call the shots there. She's the brains, I'm the brawn. Besides... her ambitions are way more interesting than mine."

"So instead you just act as her pitbull", Noel said contemptuously. "Smiting whomever she orders you to."

He smiled back as if they were complimenting him. "What can I say? I get to save the world, and enjoy being my true, superior self along the way." Swinging the block of his hammer back, he studied Julian closely. "You like it too, don't you? Being able to get away from your boring old lives at school, drop your masks and just act natural?"

"I think we have very different ideas of what counts as 'natural'", Aiko commented, refusing to be baited.

"Maybe", Taurus considered. "That'll be up to you. Our world... is about to change forever. It's up to you if you want to be on the winning side, to be a part of our Salvation... or if you'd rather turn down our generous offer, and die here, without anyone in the real world ever knowing what happened to you."

"By which you mean we'll join you", Aiko grunted, her anger dissipating any lingering malaise from earlier. "Join the Masked Circle and work for Lady Scorpio. Like _hell_."

Taurus spread his muscular arms imploringly. "Why not? We can give you all part-time jobs at the Karma Club. It won't interfere with what you've been doing here. In fact, we'll even give you the resources to help you on your way. By all means, save as many as you can. Each one can become another Persona-user and fill out our ranks. Any good friends you've got at school? We can try finding a Persona in them too, if you like."

"And then they'll die if they can't Awaken in time", she argued. "That's not an offer. That's crazy."

"They'll die anyway if they don't have a Persona in them", he countered. " _Legem Naturae_. Weak-hearted people like that are destined to die off in the new world, with or without us. Honestly, we're doing them a favor."

"Ah. There we go", Julian sounded quite satisfied, drawing his revolvers into a spinning dervish. "Here I was almost starting to like you, and then you go and say shit like _that,_ reminding me that you're really just a d-bag who preys on people weaker than you."

" _Hmph._ Correct for once", Pelagio affirmed beside him, drawing his sword and shield. "Whatever honeyed lies this horned fool may try, we already know firsthand the various depravities of the Karma Club. To willingly become a part of such barbarity... would be to betray ourselves!"

Nodding back serenely as if he'd expected nothing else, Taurus turned his gaze to Mira. "How 'bout you, gaijin girl? You haven't said anything yet. Aren't you interested in become a part of the next big chapter in humanity's history?"

Mira remained silent for a long time. She had become absolutely, deathly, perfectly still, giving no sign of drawing her weapons or calling on her Persona.

Then the whispered, ominous words came out like stones: _"Are you the one who hurt Nijima-san?"_

Feeling everyone's glares renewed with energy, Taurus chuckled lightly.

"Heh... I can sense that lovely anger rising in you all. Would you fight harder if I said yes? Eh, sorry. I can't lie about that one. That was King Leo's doing, not mine. You'll get a chance to meet him too, if you join us."

"No thank you", Mira replied, eyes and voice both uncharacteristically cold. "I'd much rather defeat him face to face. After we defeat you, that is."

Taurus only looked happier at her threats. "Excellent. Even more confidence in your victory... I love it! But, I _did_ make that promise to Scorpio. I'll give it one more try then."

Regarding Aiko again, he took a moment to take in all the details of her outfit before moving on to the others as well.

"You know, the reason we were offering to let you keep going with this is that it's _completely meaningless_. All you're really doing is destroying a lot of Shadow scum. Which in my opinion is a fine way to pass the time, but you kids... You're so damn naive! You act like you're actually serving some kind of greater good here. Like you're a bunch of freakin' magical girls, making sappy speeches about love and justice and all that preschool shit."

"We're not magical girls", Mira said, staying completely calm. "We have magical boys too."

"I'm _not_ a magical boy", Jiachi joked back, though his irritation wasn't feigned as he brought his hands together menacingly. "Although we're definitely gonna punish you, d-bag."

"I wouldn't mind being a magical boy", Noel quipped, amused at the way his words made Jiachi flinch in surprise. "My Persona is certainly magical enough."

"I think we've gotten the point across", Aiko remarked, amusement of her own not quite diluting the threat in her words. "Sorry. None of us are going with you, Samesaji-san. If they really wanted to, I'd let them. But they don't. Instead, we're going to leave this place for now. Try to stop us, and it's five against one. I'm friends with your sister, so I'd _really_ rather not go down that road. Your call."

"Yes", he faced her, still eerily happy at the prospect. "Exactly. My call. Now that I've made our generous offer like Lady Scorpio wanted and you've refused it like I expected, it's _my call._ Just like this is."

He raised his one free hand in a gesture and the team tensed up for an assault, but instead a spray of familiar green healing energy descended, covering them and erasing wounds from their earlier battles as well as some of the torture Kaneshiro had put Aiko through.

"What...?"

"The _Mediarama_ skill. Obviously you've all been through the wringer, fighting all the Shadow scum infesting this place", Taurus explained as if it were obvious. "It's hardly fair if you all start out beat up before we fight. Less fun for me that way."

It wasn't a complete restore, she felt. The physical exhaustion that had begun to slow their movements and slacken their faces could only be properly cured by a good night's sleep. This felt more like what she imagined a big shot of caffeine was like, a temporary boost to let them ignore the side effects of fighting so many enemies for hours on end without rest.

 _Whatever it is, we need every edge we can get with this guy._

Even with the boost, it felt like a mighty effort to become Saber again, to put on the show of confidence in her decisions and the audacity to issue commands to the others.

"Mender, right? You stay back and heal. Gunslinger, light him up. He'll probably go after you and Mender, so Guardian needs to focus his protective skills and Mender and Gunslinger should stay far apart. Dancer, up your speed and chase after him. Don't give him a chance to focus his ice skills."

Surprised at how quickly she'd been able to put together a battle plan in her condition, Mira gaped. "And what will you be doing, captain?"

"Beating him", she replied without looking back. "I hope."

"But your Personas... are they working properly now?"

Aiko locked that idea out of her consideration, could not permit it to enter and begin to fill her with further doubts. "Time to find out."

Walking forward slowly, she reached up to the large brim of her hat, finally restored to her after hours of physical and emotional torture.

And thankfully, so was the power of the wild card.

Sensing the reckless thrill in Taurus' heart without needing to look at him directly, she reached deeply inwards for a similar mentality within her own soul, the source of a Persona she had expended a great deal of time and energy on fusion to create for situations like this.

" _I challenge thee to a duel... Matador!"_

The surge of the Persona's power rippled through the air for a moment, heralding the appearance of a living skeleton in dignified green matador's garb and cornered hat, a wickedly sharp rapier clasped in one hand and a flapping red capote in the other. Far more imposing however was the sensation she was getting from the gaze of its empty eye sockets... a canny veteran fighter's carefully controlled desire for spilled blood.

Aiko didn't try to fight this strange impulse, flowing with it instead. _Matador... fitting opponent for a Taurus. And your sword style is nearly identical to mine... Let's take him down!_

There was the infinitesimal, barely-perceptible nod of acknowledgment from the skull head, and then she was charging, blade at the ready.

Taurus charged as well, ignoring the sickly light gathering about him as Noel opened with the power-reducing Tarunda, as well as the blast of fire dogging his rapid steps down the highway towards his challengers, his motions so quick they seemed blurred even though they saw no sign of any speed-boosting skill effecting him.

Mira's own power in that category took effect at exactly the right time, allowing Aiko to open up with a spinning cutlass slash. Easily blocked by the hammer, but doing that stopped his charge and it couldn't stop her follow-up; a medium-level wind skill complementing the equal-strength lightning fork Mira called down from farther away.

The cloven hoof-shaped head of the hammer descended, breaking the lock and nearly breaking her arms had she not pulled away from it in time. The weapon shifted around to catch Mira mid-pounce, extending out to blast her back and away, crying out and nearly falling off the highway but for the guardrails catching her.

More riotous flame bathed Taurus and Mithras, but it seemed like more of an annoyance than anything that might damage them. "What's with that stupid look, girly?", he asked Aiko. "What, you thought just because I use ice skills, I'd be weak to fire? Come on now."

"The thought did cross my mind", she admitted, standing back up. "It's worked before."

"On Shadow scum", he reminded her in disgust. "I'm a bit above _them_ , in case you haven't noticed. Or... maybe it's because you haven't overcome that problem yourself yet?"

He made another gesture, Mithras' power generating a spiked ice ball nearly the size of the one that had taken down the zeppelin, swinging the hammer around to send it rolling towards Julian at top speed.

Pelagio was there, slamming his shield down to block its path, but the instant the sphere hit, it shattered into countless ice spikes shooting out in every direction and hitting Noel and Jiachi several times anyway. As predicted, Jiachi appeared to suffer the most from the frozen impact, nearly falling over before Noel's healing light covered him, erasing most of the damage.

Aiko could only barely take in that sight, all her efforts put into hacking the enemy's guard down with the enhanced speed of Matador, only to find his weapon moving to block just as quickly. Making a surprise move to bring one hand onto the long handle of the hammer, she quickly withdrew it with a pained hiss, finding the metal so intensely cold to the touch as to be physically painful, Taurus taking that opening to cast her away again and send her cutlass clattering along the pavement.

Two darts struck his back shoulder, announcing Mira's return. Instead of a flying leap, she simply sprinted forward, a long stream of green wind boosting her speed even further before blowing past her and crashing into him, disrupting his guard just enough to strike with her silver daggers, but the lighter weapons couldn't stand up to his counter strike as well as Aiko's sword did, one quickly knocked aside and the other encased in ice when Mira tried to slice upwards into the man's hip.

"Guardian, go!", Aiko called without hesitation once she'd dodged through a field of ice spikes to pick up her weapon. "We need heavier weapons to match his!"

Pelagio didn't balk at the change in plans either, lunging out to smash into the enemy's guard and release a crushing nuclear blast as soon as they were close. Soaking up the damage, Taurus blasted him back into a car's wreckage.

"Yeah", he commented. "This thing's damn heavy alright. Without Mithras' strength, I would never be able to lift it, or even wear this armor. But when Mithras came to me, I knew that I'd been chosen for somethin' special. Somethin' that'll change the whole world, forever. What else could this wonderful power be for?"

"Idunno", Jiachi remarked, ditching his fire skills to resume the quicker barrage of revolver shots directed at arms and legs, designed to disrupt his movements and attacks. "Maybe _not_ being a psychotic fucker?"

"Maybe for you", Taurus replied. Though he spoke to Jiachi, his next massive ice blast was directed at Noel, and barely dodged as their healer rolled out of the way. "Me though? I was _born_ for war. It's in my bones."

"And what about _Koto-chan's_ bones?", Aiko snarled, taking a shot with her flintlock pistol that spanged harmlessly off the hammer's pommel. "You're seriously going to leave your own sister's life to chance on this, on the off percentage that she might have a Persona in her too?!"

For the first time, Taurus looked genuinely furious at her words, distracted enough to stop attacking Noel and Julian and focus more on her. "What kind of damned hypocrite would I be if I didn't subject her to the same standards as everyone else? If she's strong enough, she'll live. If not... we won't be doing that for another few years at least."

 _One small weakness_ , she observed, _even if it's not one we can exploit right now._

There was no time to consider it further. Samesaji swung his weapon, upwards seemingly at empty air, but generating an undulating wave of spikes eviscerating the concrete of the road, too wide to dodge. "Jack Frost!", she called out, bringing in the tiny fairy and his resistance to ice along with it, still wincing from the damage as she charged but a mere pinprick compared to what could have happened without it.

"Wild card, huh...?", his intrigue overcome his earlier rage. "Just like Scorpio warned me about. Man, it really is a shame that you won't be joining us. If I could train you up for a year? You'd be freakin' unstoppable."

"Matador", Aiko replied sternly, instantly reverting back to the stronger Persona once she'd cleared the ice spikes. The edge of her sword blurred in the air for moment, as if it had been smeared by defective film reel, before ending up as an indistinct blot, nothing but the faint sensation of thought-quick motion. The slashes that began to cut into Taurus' armor were no less quick, no less difficult to see properly, pelleting him just as relentlessly as Julian's barrage of shots but cutting deeper.

" _Andalucia"_ , she announced the technique's name, more for the benefit of her momentarily confused allies than the enemy. "You've got incredible power with that Persona... but we've still got the edge over you in speed."

"At least _you_ do", Samesaji admitted, finally shrugging off the barrage to release a brutal arctic wind all around him, forcing Pelagio and Mira to fall back and resort to their long range attacks. "Still, using your ultimate attack so soon? No sense of style at all."

"Sorry", Jiachi's voice chimed in from a much closer distance than he expected. A triple barrage of bullets slammed into the man's hammer hand, knocking it loose. "We are just naive kids, yeah? Maybe if we were 'born for war' like you are, then we'd know better."

Smiling at the joke despite their dire situation, Aiko darted at the hand, slicing into it with everything she had to jar the hammer free and leave him temporarily weaponless. "Also, who said _that_ was our best shot? I prefer this kind of trick myself... _Zanma!"_

Jiachi saw the move coming and synchronized with it, mixing his best fire skill in to create the burning winds that had been so effective against the scythe-bearing Shadow from city hall. Mira and Pelagio's combination followed directly after, a chain of blue spheres tethered by bonds of lightning which wrapped around their target before detonating.

The four of them wound up in corner positions around him, gratefully accepting heals from Noel and readying their weapons for more action. "He's not down!", Aiko warned them. "There's no way he's that easy."

"I'm not sure if I'd call that easy", Mira replied earnestly. "But I see what you mean. He's leagues ahead of any Shadow we've seen."

"Aw, I like you too", the voice of Taurus billowed out of the crater in the road to reach their ears. While it was clear from the various gashes and rips in the armor that he'd taken serious damage, his body now glowed with the same luminous healing energy he'd originally gifted them with.

"What?", he asked in mock indignation. "You think I only had ice skills? That's just my bread and butter. Time to up the ante, I think."

"Guardian", Aiko called over. "You heard him. Time for us to step it up a notch."

The beaked helmet nodded. "As you wish, captain." Lowering his weapon for a moment that might have been an opening if she and Mira hadn't had their guns ready, he raised his shield up against the tattered trails of smoke now rising from the ruined highway, Galahad's power extending its protection to all of them. _"Mapraesi!"_

Flashing back to how their previous fight had gone, Mira stared at Pelagio in alarm, but it was too late. Not that any words from her would have stopped him from overtaxing himself using such a skill. While he did tumble down to one knee, he brought himself back up after a few seconds, and now the transparent, damage-absorbing barrier had been granted to all of them.

And for the first time, Aiko felt like they might possibly win this battle. "Take him!", she commanded, beginning their renewed offensive with a pistol shot before charging with the others. "Now! Don't let up for a moment!"

Prince Taurus laughed.

Not in amusement, but genuine, heartfelt excitement. No matter how he tried to guard against one or two attacks, the other Voyagers would be there to strike at the openings, continuing the onslaught until his armor was battered beyond the point of repair and he was cast back on a roaring current of a water skill to smash into a truck.

"Nice", he remarked as the team prepared to strike again. "You're good as a team, if not as individuals. I'm curious though... _If_ you actually managed to beat me, what would you do then? Kill me?"

The piercing question slowed Aiko down, just enough to throw off the rhythm of their coordinated attack and give Samesaji his own opening, unleashing a wide spray of meter-length icicles that forced the others to back off.

 _...Damn. He's right. What could we do? Can't kill him. We're not murderers. Take him captive? Kidnapping's not much better, and we have no place to store him. Leave him here for the Shadows? Maroon him on an island here? Same as murder. Turn him in to the police? What crime could he be charged with that they'd believe?_

 _Hell, if we hurt him too much here, he could even sue us for assault once we got back to the real world._ While a Persona's power made it take much more than usual to seriously injure someone in this world, it _was_ possible, and it had already become clear that they weren't going to be able to stop him with anything less than lethal damage.

"Hey", his disarming voice pulled her out of her troubled thoughts. "No need to worry your pretty head too much about it. 'Cause that's not gonna happen."

"Focus please, Saber", Noel called to her from behind. "This demands our full attention!"

Ignoring the mauve light of the power-draining skill covering him once more, Taurus ducked out of the way of another blast from Pelagio and Galahad, nearly backed up to his own ice wall now. His hammer began to glow with a strange blue aura, but it was his other hand which struck back, forming into a focusing gesture as he smiled pure malevolence.

" _MEGIDOLA!"_

She was five feet away from slicing into his guard when something that felt like an abnormally wide bullet punched through her chest and out the other side, stopping her momentum and wracking her with unbearable agony.

Then the other lasers followed at various other angles. Collapsing to the ground, she caught and heard enough to know that the same thing was happening to the others, ending their charge and leaving them flat on the concrete. Even Pelagio could barely move.

"What...", he gasped out, not understanding how anything could hurt this much. "But... the barrier...?"

Raising his hammer, its aura covering him and undoing the power reduction Noel had afflicted him with, Taurus shrugged. "Sorry. That skill ignores all barriers and resistances. Doesn't matter what you do, you can't protect your buddies from it. And as you can see, it packs quite the punch."

Groaning, straining as she stood, Aiko realized in shock that she was the only one doing that. Everyone else was showing signs of life, but unable to stand, Julian only able to weakly mutter: "cheap bastard".

"Have to admit, this is new", the man remarked, shedding his ruined armor as he walked forwards. She realized that he was speaking to Pelagio, not her. "You're not even human, are you? You can't be a cognition either. I'd say you're Shadow scum, yet you have a Persona. Interesting. Very interesting. Care to share with the class, feathers?"

"Not... with you", the bird-knight managed to whisper.

Taurus looked disappointed. "Too bad. You seem like you've got a level head on your shoulders instead of being just another hormonal teenager. Guess this means you're not interested in joining-"

He cut off. _Had_ to cut off, to devote his full concentration to fending off a wild, blindingly fast sally from Aiko, desperate to take him down or at least buy time for the others to recover. When he tried to blow her away as before, she timed a parry to redirect the blast skyward from the hammer's head, unleashing more wind skills into the opening.

It couldn't last. It felt much longer but might have been ten or fifteen seconds before the hammer flashed bright blue and the spiked sphere of ice carried her off into the wall, crushed and depleted of anything but the energy needed to continue breathing.

And watching. Watching as Samesaji propped the hammer back up on his sole intact shoulder guard, rightly convinced that they were beaten, finishing his slow walk towards Pelagio.

"But Scorpio said that you were the real prize here, Aiko Tsuruga", he admitted. "The power of the wild card, given to you by this 'Servant' guy that she hates so much, _and_ you're the strongest of this bunch."

Taking the hammer into both hands for the first time, he raised it, ready to slam down with twice the force he'd been using. "So I'll give you one last chance. Come with me. Join us. Or your bird-friend gets a thinner head."

"You...", she rasped, competing emotions flooding her until she couldn't see anything except the horrified look in Pelagio's enormous orb-shaped eyes. "I can't answer that."

"Sure you can", he insisted. "You can say yes, or you can say no. It's easy. I'll give you ten seconds before I assume it's a no."

" _Don't!"_ , Pelagio howled in despair. "Please... don't. It is an honor, to die in your service-"

Taurus brought the hammer down on his chest plate instead of the head, and he could speak no more. _Still alive,_ she observed in muted horror, seeing the smashed armor plate still rising and falling slightly. _But that can change with just one more swing, if I don't do as he says._

 _Stupid. So stupid to stick around and fight him. We should've just run. Should never have come to this place to begin with. Now, Pelagio...!_

"Sorry I missed. Next time will be his head", Taurus promised. "Even if you have revival skills", he noted with one lazy eye rolled towards Noel in suspicion, who already knew where he was going, "there's no coming back from that. Five, four, three, two-AH!"

The sharp cry brought Aiko's head back up out of its misery to see a black hexagon embedded in the hand holding the hammer, its owner reeling backwards in shock. A barrage of darts followed, slamming into his chest and sticking in the ruined plate.

Finally, the black-masked figure crashed into Taurus head on, a kick taking him in the waist before transitioning into an elbow strike at his neck. He'd regained his senses by then though. He rolled with the strike, spinning around into a back swing forcing Hex to leap back. Even then, the frost nearly caught her legs.

"Who's this?", Taurus asked in piqued curiosity. "Another member of your merry band?"

"No", the artificial electronic growl answered. "Just a defender of justice, who can't stand to see people threatened."

" _You?"_ , Aiko wondered aloud. "You're helping us?"

The black visor turned to her, imperceptible as ever but the normally threatening voice remarkably less so. "I guess they didn't tell you. That's fine. Just sit back, and let me take care of this bastard. I owe you that much at least."

Shaking off the attacks, Taurus went still. "Wait... Oh. _Oh._ You're the real Hex? Didn't you learn your lesson after last time you messed with us?"

"Last time?" Hex seemed equally disarmed by his words before refocusing and preparing another fistful of the hexagonal black disks. "You? You're the one who... No. Doesn't matter! Just one more reason to bring you to justice here, even if I can't do it in the other world!"

Samesaji smirked, putting an empty hand up to touch his earring for luck. "Right. I guess this Land makes sense now, if you're its ruler. I suppose that means I shouldn't kill you."

"Don't let that stop you from trying", Hex dared him. "Nothing else is going to stop me anyway!"

Under a sneaking suspicion that she already knew how this battle would end, Ai pried her eyes away from it to focus on her friends. She could see them struggling to stand, free to _try_ now that the enemy wasn't looming over them with a deadly weapon. Pelagio wasn't moving, but she could see signs of a resurgence in Mira, Noel and Jiachi.

 _Have to stand... focus. Get back up. Have to fight. Help Hex. No matter who he is, he's helping us now. Anything to get out of this mess we're in. So..._

"H-High Pixie", she whispered, calling back the smaller winged Persona for its healing powers in Dellingr's absence. Depleted as she was, she could only manage a partial restore, but it was enough to let her stand, no matter how much it hurt.

That was the difference, she realized in numb surprise. Whatever Kaneshiro had done to her, whatever warped satisfaction she had gotten out of it, there was at least one good thing to come out of it.

Compared to the hell she'd gone through in that cushioned room, anything that Prince Taurus could dish out was a hard summer rain, even if in truth it was far more damaging. And that was worth a moment of her own satisfaction. _I almost want to go confront Kujou again, just so she can see how little anything she does to me means any more._

 _That can wait. Assuming that we survive this._

Forcing her head back up, she saw the fight wasn't going well. Hex had taken the man by surprise at first, but putting aside the various darts, bombs, boomerangs and other gadgets he was actually weaker than any Persona user. Any landed strike was blunted by the combination of Mithras' power and the remnants of his armor and inevitably resulted in his gauntlet-clad arms becoming covered in numbing frost.

He was momentarily surprised when Shadows oozed out from the concrete to take him from behind, but the ones summoned were so weak that he was able to destroy them with a single swing each. "Shadow scum", he chuckled at his opponent's desperation. "Don't worry everyone. I've got them, as promised."

She took advantage of the opening the final Shadow created, dashing in with a blasting water skill. As hoped for, his instinctual attempt to block it with ice merely resulted in the water freezing over his arm, the sight of which was distraction enough to get a slash past the hammer and nearly into his cheek. When he moved the hammer to force her back her other hand was there to catch it, ignoring the biting chill and holding it with all her remaining strength.

His knee shot up then, sharp armor plates digging into her gut until she saw stars. The light of those stars became the light of the destructive lasers, bombarding both her and Hex until both lay flat on the ground, one not moving and the other just barely.

She rolled, trying to stand. The pain could be ignored- Kaneshiro's lessons in it were still fresh- but the sheer amount of physical damage would have been more than enough to overwhelm and kill without her Persona blocking so much of it out. If she lost focus, if Matador dissipated because of a lapse in concentration...!

Kicking Hex's crumpled form aside contemptuously, Taurus strode towards her, clearly savoring his final victory. "Well done. You kept it up longer than I thought. Crushing that confidence was good entertainment..."

He paused brandishing his weapon, letting them wait for the other shoe to drop. "...But my previous statement stands. You're still just a bunch of prissy magical girls playing hero, ignorant of the brutal realities of life. You're not worthy of Valhalla."

"Fight me."

Everyone searched for the source of that request, not just Samesaji, until they realized that Julian was the one who had spoken. Battered, bruised, bloody, unable to stand, and covered in frost to the point that his lips were turning an unhealthy shade of blue.

Yet he was forcing those lips to open and curse and scream defiance, focusing his eyes on their enemy. "Yeah, you heard me, ya d-bag! _Fight me!_ Drop that OP BS Persona of yours, ditch that hammer, and I'll drop Wild Bill and all my weapons! We'll fight like men should- hand-to-hand! I'll kick your candy ass!"

Taurus stopped for a moment, regarding Julian cautiously, as if seriously considering his offer to fight. But it was obvious to everyone what this really was; a last-ditch attempt at turning the fight around, perhaps distracting their opponent long enough for everyone else to escape safely.

Just as Aiko herself had done earlier today.

"You've got a lot of spirit", Samesaji observed Julian admiringly. "Full marks for that. I almost want to take you up on that offer. But Lady Scorpio was very clear on this; any Persona user who opposes our Salvation has to die here. Sorry about that. Really, I am."

"Do it then! If you're got the balls!"

"Gunslinger", Aiko whispered in anguish, wishing that he would stop. It was over. Everything was over. The only mercy she could hope for now was not to have to watch Taurus kill her friends, crushing them one by one. _Still vacant._

"I think I can oblige you on that", Samesaji nodded, preparing his weapon as he paced towards Julian's defeated form. "I always say spirit like that should-"

He froze up, not speaking, not moving.

After several interminable seconds where no one seemed to understand what had happened, Aiko spotted the mottled mass of darkness crouched at his side, which had pounced from nowhere with enough speed that it was only now recognizable as a human figure.

From the other side, all that Julian could make out was the blade of the dagger protruding from Samesaji's side.

"Don't let me interrupt you", Akira Kurusu said, the darkness covering him shedding away to reveal his eye mask and black coat. "You were saying something about spirit?"

For several more seconds no one moved, or even breathed. Then the arctic winds returned, if anything fiercer than before, forcing an instant dodge away.

Samesaji had gone down on one knee after the knife left his gut, but only for a moment. Standing back up, he smiled the same creepy smile, regarding Akira as another welcome intrusion.

"Ah... Joker. You're here. I didn't think you would be, after what you said to me earlier."

Standing tall, Akira took in each of the fallen Voyagers before determining there wouldn't be a window to switch Personas and heal them in. "That's still the truth. This still isn't the real me. My name is still Akira Kurusu, and no matter how you want to deny it, your name is still Ryuken Samesaji. Brother of Kotone Samesaji."

The healing light descended, condensing around the knife wound as their enemy continued to speak. "Have you talked to these kids about it? They even invented code names for their superior selves, just as you did. Saber, and Gunslinger, and... erm, Dancer, was it?"

"Masks", Akira emphasized hotly. "To hide our true names in places where they're inconvenient. But you've let that mask take you over, Samesaji."

" _Prince Taurus,_ please", he replied forcefully, unconsciously reaching up to jingle his earring in superstition. "And whether you admit to it or not, you're much more Joker than Kurusu. Or does Akira Kurusu really think it's okay to ambush someone and stick a knife in their guts in reality too? 'Cause if that's the case, maybe he's worth getting to know after all."

"Enough!", he barked. "We both know why I'm here. To stop you from killing these kids, from taking advantage of them when they've already been exhausted from fighting Shadows here for way too long already."

"Come on", he spread his arms in protest. "I tried my best to heal 'em up before we got started, didn't I?"

Seeing the brief confused look on Akira's face, Aiko struggled back to her feet and gave a humbled nod. "Actually, he did do that. Said it wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"Wow. Guess that makes me the bad guy for not doing the same for him" , Akira pretended to consider. "But as many Shadows might tell you... _I'm okay with being the villain._ "

Reaching up to grip his eye mask, he let a familiar smirk creep back onto his face, the one which had put the fear into countless distorted cognitive enemies before now. This one, though, didn't seem scared.

Yet.

With all his might, he wrenched the mask free, conjuring a Persona from the resulting blue conflagration. An animalistic-seeming biped, a red skin-like substance covering the black at the legs and arms before ending in vest-like openings, a white plaited cravat thrusting out from the black of the chest above two rows of dinner jacket buttons and a chain. Above it, a pair of horns gave away to a tall black cylinder covering the face, while black feathered wings even greater than those on Mercurius' feet expanded, still licking with azure flames.

Then those dark red claws reached out, chains crawling along them to seek prey.

" _ARSENE!",_ Joker howled into the austere night sky of the city for the first time in six years. _"RAVAGE HIM!"_

And Taurus, clearly able to sense the power swelling up around him just as well as any Persona-user, answered with a smile of pure joy. "Ooh, is it my birthday? Giving me exactly what I wanted? You shouldn't have... You _really_ shouldn't have! Mighty Mithras! _TOGETHER, WE SHALL CONQUER_!"

His own Persona reformed itself with equal energy, the voracious red-maned head of a lion topped by savage curved horns, two metal coil staffs clutched in its razor claws. The lower claws dangled in the air, almost whimsically suspended above and behind its summoner's shoulder, but the sudden upswing in the power it gave him was unmistakable, taking the form of an unstably shaking azure aura to oppose Arsene's crimson.

"A God of war", Akira observed, sounding more wary of Mithras than impressed. "No wonder you're so eager to fight if that's really your true inner self."

"Oh you have _no idea_ ", Taurus emphasized, his eyes wide with hunger. "But even these ones weren't enough in the end. Too weak. You, though... _you'll do_."

"Maybe", he pretended to consider. "No complaining when you learn you didn't want this fight after all, got it?"

"Wouldn't dream of it!"

Arsene's curse power gathered. Mithras' coated the concrete in frost.

And Joker lunged.

Something like an explosion quaked the bridge, knocking Aiko back off her feet, and then they were both gone, leaving behind a gaping hole in one of the rails. Running to it, she could see the twin spheres of terrifying power, one of red and one of blue, falling further down into the steel glass canyons.

Looking back, she saw the others, her team. Battered, injured, and exhausted more than they'd ever been... But the look in Mira's eyes was unmistakable.

It was acceptance. "Go", she implored, knowing without needing to ask what their leader needed to do. "Help Kurusu-kun. We'll catch up."

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her Persona's power once more and stepped through the gap, falling down.

Into the darkness...

* * *

Returning to the cognitive world, whatever its current form, had naturally caused many old memories to resurface within Akira Kurusu.

The one that he couldn't help dwelling on now was one of the fight with Goro Akechi, the so-called 'second coming of the detective prince' who had entered a partnership with the Phantom Thieves only to betray them and murder Akira personally. Or so he'd thought at the time.

Still, being tricked and eventually defeated did nothing to diminish the impact of the Personas he'd wielded, the justice-oriented facade of Robin Hood giving way to the malevolent psychosis of Loki when he was backed into a corner during their fight. All of the combined talents and abilities and teamwork of the Phantom Thieves had been just barely enough to defeat him then.

Ryuken Samesaji, by comparison, lacked the power of the wild card, being limited to a single Persona. Yet even in the first minute it immediately became clear that he didn't _need_ the wild card in order to be nearly as dangerous as Goro Akechi had ever been. Together, he was confident that the Phantom Thieves of old definitely could have taken him down without too much trouble.

Except that the Phantom Thieves of old weren't here, or anywhere. It was just him, alone.

Arsene's dark power thrummed within his heart, no doubt just as eager to lash out as his target after being pent up for six years and change.

 _Challenge accepted._

"Heads up!", his opponent cried out gleefully, channeling blue energy through his hammer to launch a near copy composed entirely of solid ice, which grew to three times the original size as it blasted towards him.

With a gesture from Arsene's limber claws, a pillar of smoke black flame flared up in front of the colossal weapon, leaving it as a cloud of harmless vapor coming out the other side. With a second move the same cursed fire covered Taurus, but the crazed Persona-user simply charged straight through it, ignoring the damage to catch Akira off guard with an offhand punch. Akira rode the impact, letting its force blow him back, bracing off a tarnished brick wall to rebound up and over before coming down with a precise dagger strike.

"Thought you were better than that!", Samesaji snorted, deflecting it with another frigid barrier before bringing his knee up into a glob of oily curse power, dissipating the skill before it could become dangerous to him. "Those kids tried the same thing too. Fact is, I've got no weaknesses at all!"

"But you did once", Joker guessed, idly dodging the man's follow up. "When you were starting out, right? Let me guess... fire?"

"Maaaybe." Instinct warned him about the mass of cold air near his legs beginning to crystallize, leaping away while firing his pistol back. "What's it matter? Lady Scorpio helped us to erase our weaknesses! And I'm not just talking elementals either! She could do the same for you, if you just agreed to help us instead of getting in our way like those dumb kids!"

The Third Eye of the Phantom Thief saved him once again, tipping him off that one of the buildings, its surface now encrusted with ice, was about to collapse from the stress, moments before it did, avoiding the avalanche of masonry. "Refer to my previous answers", he replied briskly. "You have to know I'd never say yes to that."

Stopping to block the Maeigaon skill with the block of his hammer, Samesaji chuckled back as if they were old friends sharing a joke. "Yeah, I didn't think so. I always figured the high and mighty Phantom Thieves considered themselves too righteous to actually address the roots of the problems plaguing the world. You're proof of that."

"Yeah, sorry to disappoint your high standards, mister violence-obsessed maniac." Carefully dodging around another ice hammer, he sought cover behind a car to focus. "You love war? Here's another war god for you to enjoy- _KALI_!"

Taurus did indeed stop to take notice of the new Persona that had replaced Arsene when Akira touched his mask, swapping it out; a tall red-skinned female figure with pale hair braids, multiple arms clutching an arsenal of bloodstained swords, a wicked grin on her fanged face radiating a lifelong enthusiasm for carnage.

To test it out, he risked trading blows with his opponent, his dagger striking past the hammer's slower swing. Sure enough, the hit's impact was markedly reduced and he had time to strike again before Taurus pulled away, returning to his ice skills instead.

Akira let him, focusing instead on one of Kali's skills- the most powerful buffing skill he'd ever managed to acquire in what he would hesitate to call his 'career', and the best one outside of Futaba's cognitive magic. Three beams of red, blue and green covered him, enhancing not only power, but speed and durability as well.

 _Still, it sure would be nice to have Futaba and Prometheus backing me up right about now. It would be entirely worth whatever jokes she felt like making about this guy's aesthetics._

"Neat trick", Taurus called to him, readying his weapon but not charging. Instead, the horns of his helmet had begun to glow blue. "Guess I should pull out my big guns too... _MEGIDOLA!"_

Instinct made him brace anyway, but he knew from memory that there was no point- skills like that bypassed any form of defense or resistance, lasers so bright the shade of violet was nearly indiscernible bombarding him from every direction. Luckily it wasn't strong enough to cripple him, but it was still much more than anything the ice had done so far.

Instead of following up with more of the frosty skills he'd normally gotten used to Yusuke using, Taurus had somehow directed the power back on himself, blots of hard ice sealing shut the countless cracks and breaches in his armor that the Dream Voyagers had created earlier, damage which healing skills couldn't deal with.

"Neat, huh?", Samesaji caught him staring. "Ice armor."

"I haven't seen that trick before", he admitted. "But aren't you a bit cold under- oh." He slapped the forehead above his mask. "Right, Mithras protects you from ice. Duh."

Samesaji shrugged. "You said, it not me. Losing your edge there, Joker? What a shame. I'm not even getting hard right now."

"No questioning that", he sighed. "If I'd been at my peak, I'd have wrecked you already. Sorry, still shaking the rust off. Maybe this'll do... _METATRON!_ "

The new Persona he'd called to replace Kali glided down on vast wings, flexible yet shining in a way suggesting metallic content. The figure beneath them no less majestic, a polished, pristine giant of alien metals, with glowing green eyes and an opulent golden loincloth.

Taurus stared up at the enormous machine angel in approval. "Oh yeah. _Now_ we're talkin'!"

Joker's frown was nearly as deep and disapproving as his new Persona's scowl. "You really are nuts. I call down the most powerful angel in mythology to kick your ass, and all you do is admire it? You _are_ aware that these so-called 'angels' almost took over the world six years ago?"

"Power- real power- is beautiful", Samesaji said firmly. "Even when it's pointed at me, I can appreciate the beauty of it. And yeah, Scorpio did mention something like that happening."

Feeling a deep stab of fear in his heart like it was his own dagger turned on him, Akira stopped dodging to stare back at his opponent. "And she told you who I was? What about the others?"

"The others don't matter", Taurus scoffed lightly. "We know that _you're_ the real deal. The fabled Trickster of the Phantom Thieves, who escaped death and led their failed effort to redeem human society."

He breathed out again. _Phew. Small mercies. They didn't know that Makoto was a Phantom Thief, or they would never have targeted her the way they did, knowing that hurting her would just attract our attention more. They've stayed hidden until now. They don't know anything about Morgana either. Just me._

 _Lucky me._

His bout of grateful silence seemed to have been taken as a cue to resume the battle, and Taurus' weapon flew out again, this time on a chain he'd attached to a small lock on his right arm. While a flail required much more skill to use effectively than a hammer, the way it seemed to be accurately chasing him around suggested a great amount of practice. Again and again Akira found himself being slammed, saved from serious injury only by the combined power of his defense skills and Metatron's sheer power.

The only way out was to turn that same power to offense. Channeling the lesser tetragrammaton's dominating God-given strength, Akira swung towards the next incoming hammer flail strike, a larger energy sword appearing to block the strike which his dagger couldn't have. More of the same swords appeared around Taurus, only prevented from plunging into his arms or even severing them by swift use of a skill generating a hail of equally large ice spikes to intercept them.

A slight interlude followed that fevered clash, as more Shadows appeared to threaten the 'criminals' with justice. They rarely had enough time to manage a single attack before Joker or Taurus or both instinctively cut them down.

"Shadow scum", Samesaji cackled victoriously when it was over. "So stupid, they don't even know when they're out of their league. Sorry for the interruption, Joker."

"Accepted", he grunted back, more than annoyed by the way Samesaji still seemed to be treating him as a comrade, a fellow Phantom Thief instead of a murderous enemy. _Hopefully this will wake him up._

Another skill of Metatron's took effect, the most powerful healing of all covering him in an avalanche of radiant light, restoring most of the wounds he'd taken so far in the battle. Before Samesaji could protest about that, he had switched Personas back to Kali, re-applying the Heat Riser skill and ignoring- _able_ to ignore- the devastating hammer strikes thanks to her physical toughness.

As soon as that was done, he switched Personas again. Another winged giant descended- one clearly of the exact opposite origin to Metatron. Sloping white horns not dissimilar to the ones on Taurus' helmet bracketed an array of six bat wings, dark blue muscle covering the rest and a strange, perpetually-moving white cloth sash covering that. A regal mane of golden hair covered a gruesome, unsmiling red-eyed face... not merely a devil from hell, but their ruling lord and master.

"Okay", Akira remarked, unavoidably bemused by the fact that Taurus was still gaping up at the sight of Lucifer, as if he _still_ didn't quite grasp just how dangerous the power facing him really was. " _Now_ we can fight."

"Yes." Nodding, Taurus raised his weapon. " _Now_ we can fight." The blue aura surrounding him that had grown steadily more visible the more they fought flared yet again, generating a new kind of ice storm. This one was actually composed of the colossal hammers from before, raining down indiscriminately and unavoidably, shattering, crushing, destroying everything they struck.

Everything except for Akira. For him it was a light, cool rain, neatly melted away by Lucifer's power by the time it reached him. As he neared striking distance, Taurus moved on to the rapid blast of ice power that he'd used to clear away the Dream Voyagers when they got too close, only to find it deflected by a casual flick of Akira's wrist. Leaping back to get some distance from the disturbingly slow, untroubled walk his opponent was using to erase the gap between them, he let fly the hammer flail, this time with the cloven head itself glowing a dangerous blue.

Akira didn't try to dodge. The pain when the hammer struck his shoulder didn't stop him from reaching out to grab the chain with reflexes that still felt to him like they transcended humanity. As it had before the biting chill assaulted him, the winds of the coldest north magnified into something impossible to endure for long... but he hauled it back into the falling blade of the dagger, a clean slice through the links, sending the hammer flying across the alley to smash into and through a brick wall.

Taurus ran, catching the damaged weapon... and exposing his back to the nova-white blast of energy gathering in the palm of Akira's off hand, shattering the ice armor off and eliciting a cry of pain from him for the first time. Despite this, he rolled with the hit, transitioning into a sprint back into melee range before bringing his weapon down in a merciless chop.

The dagger was there to meet it, sawing half an inch into the handle before disengaging, both men unloading their best Almighty skills on each other even while locked into savage direct combat, putting their entire bodies into every strike until Taurus could take no more, and was blasted back into a wall hard enough to leave an imprint behind as he collapsed to his knees, the last of the ice armor flaking off his body like dead skin as he struggled not to faint.

Joker approached him slowly, his weapon at the ready, no trace of sympathy on his furrowed face.

Taurus looked up at him, sensing the danger approaching. He stared in awe into the high-grade steel of Akira's weapon, into the eyes of his infernal Persona. Into the mask of Joker.

Stared back down at his broken weapon. He seemed to suddenly remember that he had an urgent appointment somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

"So it's just like I thought", Joker said, surprised as anyone by the note of sadness in his voice. "You don't like fighting so much when you're losing, huh Samesaji? No. No, you only want to start fights that you're sure you can win. My bad. Here I was mentally comparing you to a good friend of mine, another one who prefers violent solutions to problems, which gets him into trouble sometimes."

Pausing he watched the hatred gather in the man's eyes but continued speaking. "...but I can see now that would be an _insult_ to him. Even calling you a 'blood knight' is much too kind. You're _nothing_. You're nothing but a high-powered bully."

"S-shut up!", Samesaji growled. "This isn't over!" Anger had returned some of his blue aura to him, chilling the surrounding air but failing to harm Joker, who pointed the tip of his dagger straight at the man's heart.

"The truth hurts, right? Now I know why you're called Taurus- 'cause you're full of bull shit."

"Shut up! SHUT UUUUP!"

Akira sensed the man's power rising back up along with his feral screaming, but couldn't follow through on the threat his dagger's position implied. _Phantom Thieves don't kill. Not back then, or ever._

Instead he watched as Mithras' power flowed heedless over them both, reforming newer, tougher-looking ice armor over Samesaji's body, the howling of the arctic winds building to an agonized crescendo until it sounded to Akira's trained ears like the anguish of some ancient beast returned to life... And the eyes that stared up at him as Samesaji's head jolted back to life held no hints of any such limitation.

"Insulting our goals", he smirked. "Doesn't change the fact that you failed, Joker. You _failed!_ We wouldn't even be doing all this if you hadn't. You and your Phantom Thieves had the power to save humanity, **and you threw it away! Why? WHY?! You didn't have the balls to do what needed to be done? So much for our glorious heroic Phantom Thieves!** "

Resisting the urge to shout back, Akira merely braced himself, resummoning Metatron to prepare a barrier skill. _Arguing with him's pointless now. He's clearly gone over the edge, just like Akechi did back then._

Like as then, the rising, screaming madness he sensed in the other man was also the key to unlocking his greatest power. Taurus' smirk grew into a psychotic grimace as Mithras' power continued to surge, icing over every window and brick without even thinking about it, the howling noise echoing through the city streets and frightening Shadows back into their hiding places.

"All of that power is wasted on a wuss like you!", he screeched, all pretense of his earlier good humor vanished. "It's better off with ME! COME, _LEGEM NATURAE_!"

With those words, all the chilling power Akira had felt rapidly expanding on the front of the arctic wind, threatening to cover the entire Land, refocused itself on them. Too late, both he and Metatron felt the force tugging at something beneath his skin, extracting raw power from there. Even so, it couldn't be avoided either. Dodging around seemed to only hasten the transition, the flow of power from one person to another.

After just a few seconds it was over. Metatron was still there, materialized beside him, but the tetragrammaton had felt the drain just as keenly as the one who had called it into being, actually cast down on one knee, its wings folded about it protectively.

And Taurus, newly radiating with more strength than he'd ever known before, cackled in triumph as Mithras bore its beastly fangs. "That's why", he gloated. "That's why you always save your best number for the final act in the show! It's the one that nobody expects! You should be honored- I only use this on the very strongest enemies, and I'm sure you can see why!"

Wincing, Akira began his retreat only to find himself against an ice wall blocking the way out. _Damn, this is bad. Feels like he drained a huge portion of my strength... added it to his own!_

" _Legem Naturae!"_ , Taurus exclaimed, eyes wild with the prospect of impending victory. "The Law of Nature, and the law humanity buried rather than face! But we know better, don't we? All the good intentions in the world are useless without the power to carry them out! Without power, the Phantom Thieves are _NOTHING!_ "

What had began as the coup de grace had swiftly transformed into a desperate attempt to preserve his own life. Every missed hit from the enemy demolished a building, and every one that connected used Akira's body as a wrecking ball to achieve a similar result. Repeatedly healing the wounds kept him on his feet, but he knew it wouldn't last. The only way out of this mess was to strike back.

So he did. Waiting to the last second, he changed Personas again. This one was a new sight, a grotesque figure covered in dark hair over the white eyes that failed to disguise the fact that it was little more than a floating upper torso, the exposed spine hanging down like a decoration alongside long razor claws. Various other strange charms from some strange branch of voodoo hung about the creature's fur, failing to tip Samesaji off about its true nature until his hammer struck, the clang resonating through the city.

The impact shattered every window nearby, but Akira felt none of it. Instead it was Samesaji who was blasted back, his armor cracked by the reversed impact.

"Rangda", Joker finished desperately, glad to have some breathing room at last. "The flaw of power, Samesaji, is arrogance. As we learned for ourselves back then, power can easily be reversed when we least expect it. The same one who gave us the power was also setting us up for a fall."

"My _name_ ", the other man snarled through gritted teeth, "is PRINCE TAURUS!"

He charged forward again, but even immolating in the white fire of his own hatred he wasn't foolish enough to try the same attack again after the first one had been completely deflected. Instead, ice spikes struck from every direction, sticking in his coat before exploding into tiny clouds of frigid air biting like rabid mosquito.

Forced to switch back to Lucifer to survive, Akira prepared himself for another giant hammer impact to follow, trapped and forced to bear each hit punctuated by more deafening screaming directly into his face, impossible noise that his brain took a moment to instinctively decipher it amid the sounds of everything else around them shattering from the impacts, even the grimy pavement beneath their feet cracking from the force of it.

Yet it had to be those same hate-filled screams that were keeping the Shadows far away from there, not the damage.

"YOU THINK I'M PLAYING?"

Slam.

"YOU THINK THIS IS A FUCKING GAME?!"

Slam.

"IT'S NOT! THIS IS OUR DUTY!"

Slam. Slam.

"THE DUTY YOU ABANDONED LIKE A GODDAMN COWARD!"

No slam.

He looked up. Taurus had raised his weapon, bringing it down in a savage crushing strike only to be slowed by a sudden rapid barrage of sword slashes cutting into his armor, a swarm of gnats inhibiting fast movement.

In the time it took for Akira to recognize the Andalucia skill, the Persona it was known for and the one who had called upon it fell from above, her cutlass positioned defensively between Akira and Taurus.

"Sorry", Aiko remarked, her eyes smoldering emerald fire and her cutlass shining. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Matador", Akira panted in grateful relief, recognizing both the Persona and the fact that the battle had swung back into his favor. Matador had served him well early in the Phantom Thieves' career. Even if it was hardly the most powerful, its agility was hard to match. "Saber. How are the others?"

"They're fine", Aiko promised without taking her eyes off their opponent. "Mender's patching them up now. All we have to do is focus on taking this guy down."

Taurus reacted like he'd heard a bad joke, swinging his hammer and sending a car flying at her, twirling end over end, falling apart from the force applied. "This is a fight for grown-ups, little girl. Stay out of it!"

Tilting her hat brim, she shook her head after dodging the spinning projectile. "I'm pretty sure all that ranting about power like some cheap cartoon villain I heard earlier disqualifies you from playing the 'I'm an adult' card. I don't hear Joker complaining about it, do you?"

"No ma'am", Akira followed up enthusiastically, readying himself to fight once more. Even if it was two against one, he knew that Aiko was putting on a show of bravado; she lacked his experience and power. He would need to be the aggressor of this pairing.

What did surprise him, however, was how quickly and easily their attacks seemed to synchronize with each other. Even though they'd never fought together before, even though he'd never even seen her Personas until now, and she had never seen his, he couldn't but notice how her attacks and skills complimented his in a way he hadn't seen since the disbandment of the Phantom Thieves.

His mind reached, but he couldn't name a particular one of his former companions that he could compare her to. The deft use of the sword showed some shades of Yusuke's style naturally, but the speed of the strikes and cunning use of elemental and support skills were much closer to Morgana or Makoto.

Whatever kind of style was, in the end it was enough. The overwhelming frigid blue aura was buffeted by the red and the newly-arrived green power, itself smaller than the other two but still powerful enough to make the difference. Their combined onslaught couldn't be stopped by any amount of ice or raw physical might. Every time Taurus tried to attack one, he exposed himself to the other. When one was injured, it only took a moment for the other wild card user to swap their Personas and invoke a healing skill. Though Aiko's were much weaker, they were still enough to keep Akira standing and fighting, or the blue aura from shrinking.

For a moment it looked like they were in trouble when the enemy gathered power for another use of the Megiola skill, but Akira moved to block it before it could strike Aiko down, his greater durability soaking up the damage without much issue. Any attempt to focus on eliminating the weaker of the two first only left Taurus wide open to a full onslaught from Akira's strongest Personas.

Samesaji got the message as well, eventually. Rolling away to dodge a blast of water from Saber, he made a wild lunge at Joker instead. Seeing Rangda appear, he substituted an ice hammer of equal size in his off hand, dual-wielding for the first time they'd seen, yet Akira didn't check his own run, cutting into the new weapon before sprinting past and around his target. The new hammer was naturally lighter, and fell back with the hit, the point of the thick icicle handle jutting out-

Straight into Akira's hip.

Aiko froze up when she heard and saw him cry out, but he didn't stop for long, breaking the spike off and continuing past. Scoffing lightly, Samesaji turned to give chase.

Only his legs weren't moving. Something had bound them tight, and looking around confirmed it when he saw the broken chain of his own weapon clutched in Akira's red-gloved off hand, following him around as he circled. In the same moment, Aiko leaped up and caught the free end before it could come loose, a wind skill boosting her speed the same way Mira's had until Samesaji had been double-wrapped.

The azure blue of ice power covered both ends of the chain, creating two misshapen lumps of ice to weigh it down, a loud clang ringing out as Akira stabbed his dagger into his end of the chain, embedding both in the wall.

Reaching the other end of the street, Aiko did the same with her cutlass, completing the trap.

"The Show's...", Akira grunted, fighting now not to pass out from the blinding pain coursing through him, "... _Over._ "

Testing the bonds crushing his legs and arms and finding them unbreakable, Samesaji's furious grunts became more desperate screams, and then silence. "Cheaters!"

"Pirate", Aiko reminded him tersely, tapping one of the buttons on her captain's vest.

"And Thief", Akira seconded. "No such thing as cheating in a fight." Satisfied that their target couldn't escape, he turned to Aiko with a grateful smile. "Hey, nice save back there. You're getting better."

"Thanks", she nodded, carefully keeping her eyes on the chains in case Taurus tried to break free again. "S-sorry if I slowed you down."

"Never", he assured her. "Two's always better than one, even if you're not exactly Phantom Thief-grade power yet. Besides...", his gaze darkened. "It's fitting that you get to help take down this bully who decided to jump you when you were already depleted, to try and get lucky."

Thrashing around at the insults, Samesaji fell over on the ground, his hammer clattering emptily on the pavement. Pacing over to him, Akira knelt down, once again faced with a collection of impossible prospects.

"We should just leave you here", he said coldly. "You'd deserve whatever happens to you. I only wish that I could change your heart... but I can see that's not possible here."

"No", Aiko protested beside him, her face blank with horror. "We can't. I've met the Shadow who rules this Land- Kaneshiro. Leaving him to her is just too cruel, even for an enemy. Also, his sister is innocent. She doesn't know about his... 'night job'."

"Interesting way of putting it", Akira remarked with a more reserved expression. "Fine then. Guess we'll need to haul him back with- AGH!"

The pain in his hip struck hard, too much for even Metatron or Lucifer to block out, and he was down on one knee. Healing skills numbed the pain, but only for the brief period until the energy faded. Seeing the situation, Aiko knelt near him, switching her Persona again and raising one hand to the gash where the icicle had broken off.

" _Rejesho_... that skill should do better", she noted. "Consistent healing over time instead of all at once. Still, when we get out of this place, you need to go to the hospital right away."

"I'm sure that Nijima-san will be thrilled to see that", Akira jested weakly.

"Nijima", Samesaji grunted irritably. "Nijima, Nijima, Nijima. What's your deal with her anyway? That other gaijin girl was so concerned about her too. How is it that you all know a random cop?"

Akira made an exasperated face. "What, you _still_ don't get it? No, of course not. I guess you really are like Ryuj- I mean, like Skull in one way at least. Nijima-san is one of us, you idiot. She's a Phantom Thief."

The trapped man's eyes widened in legitimate shock. "A Phantom Thief? _And_ she's a cop too? Wow."

"Don't flatter yourself", Aiko told him, stern despite her earlier plea for mercy. "Even if you hadn't hurt Nijima-san, we'd still stand against you."

"Of course you would", Samesaji nodded, his expression drifting out searing hatred back to the creepy serenity he'd had at the start. "Heheh! We're opposing ideologies after all, so of course we'd have to end up fighting in the end, until one idea or the other gets eradicated. That's the _real_ Legem Naturae, little magical girl. If you want your ideas, your dreams to survive, then you need the power to make 'em a reality, all the power you can get your hands on. _And_ you have to be willing to bury other ideas that don't suit you, to make more room for yours. That's life."

"Maybe for you", she said disdainfully. "Me, I'm happy with 'live and let live', y'know?"

"I don't know as much about this 'Salvation' of yours as the others here", Akira remarked, standing again. "But from what I gather, you're forcing people to undergo a trial where either they awaken their Persona, or the Shadows kill them. That's all I need to know we can't let you be."

"Defending the status quo now?", Samesaji sighed dramatically, his chains rattling with his shrug. "The Phantom Thieves that I respected really are gone then. Too bad."

"So sorry for your loss", Akira quipped acidly. "Not our fault you didn't understand our goals."

 _Rumble..._

Trailing off, he could hear it growing. Something huge, coming their way. "What-"

A nearby storefront exploded, making way for the enormous curving bow of the golden ship as it plowed through the structure, casting debris every which way, deafening the entire block with the screeching of metal against broken brick and glass.

When it, and the sound, had stopped, they stared back at the chuckling Prince Taurus. "Oh, that? It's just my ride."

"Your...?"

From the ship's prow, a cone of golden light descended, severing the chain at both ends and letting it drop. While the length wrapped around Samesaji remained unaffected, he began to rise up into the air as soon as the light reached him, helpless but safe.

"Heh. Guess that means they still need me", he observed, eerily serene as he looked down at the two of them, the hammer floating beside him now that he could no longer muster the strength to carry it herself.

"Hey... well done. The both of you. Seriously. That was great. I've never had so much fun. Never thought either of you'd be so damn strong. But, uh... spoiler alert? Lady Scorpio is more powerful than me. And King Leo? He's even worse. Either of _them_ cross your path, and you'll be regretting the day you were born. Trust me."

For a moment Akira raised his pistol and Aiko her larger flintlock gun, but both quickly realized it was pointless. The golden behemoth wouldn't be stopped, and neither of them were in any shape to continue fighting much farther. Sensing their resignation, Samesaji held their gaze as his form receded into the dark gap beneath the prow.

"See ya later, Joker... Saber... I hope you both come to understand that those names are what's really worthy of surviving, not your weaker selves."

When he was out of sight, the massive shape began to pull itself back through the hole, leaving behind a building-sized gap, allowing them to see the ocean beyond, the ship drifting back out into the bay.

"That guy", Akira gritted out, at a loss for anything else to say, "is a serious pain in the ass."

* * *

Aiko didn't find it surprising that almost everything that followed the fight with Prince Taurus was a blur. Only a few things broke the haze for their distinctiveness, the rest merely being transition punctuated by the feeling of being bone-tired in a way she'd never known was possible.

The first was meeting Morgana. Or rather, meeting the large-eyed bobble-headed form he'd taken on in Faraway Lands, so different from the black cat they'd become used to that she couldn't be certain until he spoke. Though he wouldn't agree, she was grateful to him, and to the surge of energy the sight of such an undeniably cute form granted her to carry on.

The second was returning to the real world, seeing just how much worse Akira's hip injury was there- in case the way he'd immediately collapsed screaming on the beach wasn't sign enough- and finding that even after so much time had gone by, in reality it had been barely even half an hour. It was one more thing they could discuss when they had the energy to, but Noel still had enough to offer to help Akira get to the general hospital. "I was merely your healer", he explained, sounding embarrassed. "It makes sense that I'm not quite as depleted as the rest of you. Rest for now. Let me handle this."

The final one was waking up. Not in her dorm bed, but back in the dulcet blue tones of the Velvet room.

Sensing her hosts before they spoke, she breathed out mightily, unable to stand up or find a reason to exert. She knew this was a place that only existed in her head, but the exhaustion had followed her here too. Exhaustion, and more...

"I'm done", she announced to the wooden ceiling. "I'm done. I'm sorry. You chose the wrong person. I'm _done_."

Seated at his table, Igor made no verbal response, his cartoonishly large grin answer enough. Bartholomew wasn't so subtle, his footfalls heavy as he stalked over to her prone form so he could look down into her eyes, his blue naval outfit and cap crisp as ever but his yellow eyes narrowed in scorn.

"How fortuitous", he snarked. "Now you need only invent a time machine and travel back to the last time two weeks ago when you claimed that you were quitting."

"I mean it this time!", she insisted, tears welling up. "I didn't know! I didn't know it would be so horrible like this! I..."

 _Mirambela. Jiachi. Reiha. Pelagio. Noel._

The faces flashed before her eyes, and she groaned, actually feeling resentment towards her anchors for a moment. "I... Sor... I'm... I'm not done. Not yet. But... I really think you made a mistake, choosing me for this."

"I?", Igor asked in feigned surprise, his nose pointing up as he raised his bulging head. "I chose? You misunderstand, Dream Voyager. _I_ did not choose you as the next bearer of the wild card."

That revelation was enough to get her moving again, Bartholomew reaching down to grab her arm and help her stagger to her feet. "Not you? Then, who...?"

"Circumstance", Bartholomew said as if it were obvious. "Though the Trickster's circumstances were a bit different from the others, it's undeniable that the wild card came to the right person regardless of the Demiurge's machinations. And so it has here as well."

"In its opinion", she protested. "It's just so..."

Igor chuckled in amusement, and she remembered all too well how the strange man's beady stare seemed to pierce her very soul, viewing her feelings before she even gave voice to them.

Annoyingly often, Igor found those hidden feelings in her heart amusing, fascinating, or both.

"You feel... inadequate, yes? That you will be unable to complete your journey? As though preventing your world's regression will prove to be an impossible task, even with the unwavering support of your confidants?"

"Y-yes. That's it. Absolutely. I feel..."

 _Her mother. The empty space where her father should have been. The friends that shied away from 'Crybaby Ai'. Lady Scorpio._

 _And then... pain. So much pain. The pain of the world, crushing her down._

"... _Vacant._ I don't have a driving force like the others do."

"The Trickster seemed impressed enough with you, Voyager", Bart pointed out, taking a seat beside his master. "What you have endured thus far on your journey... it would have shattered a weaker soul. You may have come close to breaking, yet you did not."

"It is exactly as my companion has said", Igor continued, clasping his gloved hands delicately. "You feel as though you are vacant? An empty vessel, waiting and wanting to be filled with a 'driving force'? Perhaps that is the Voyager which circumstance demands. A blank slate, as it were, able to decide without any exterior influences what humanity's fate should be."

"I thought you'd decided already", Bartholomew teased her. "Didn't you state earlier that you wanted your goal in life to be combating the despair and misery of others?"

She sighed. The more she thought about it, the worse a headache it became. She would have preferred to fight Prince Taurus again rather than face it. "I was an idiot. Naive, like you said. The real pain of the world, of humans... it's too big, too much for me to help with. Nothing... nothing I do makes any bit of difference. Nothing any of us do. It's all pointless. Just playing hero, like Samesaji said."

"I see", the attendant considered, no longer sounding quite so scornful. "Why, then? Why did you state that earlier? If the natural state of the world is this cloying misery, then why go against it? Or, thinking even further back, why did you act to protect the Sorano girl?"

"I..."

For a time, she couldn't speak, thinking instead. Somehow, being here in this room made that easier... or maybe it was because she was finally free of the pain Kaneshiro had inflicted, as well as the fear for the future it had brought her.

"I... I...!"

How had she forgotten something so simple?

"Because", she managed at last, turning back to her hosts. "Because I know what it's like, to be all alone in the great big world. To feel that misery clawing at you, wondering why you exist, why you were even born, if all you can feel is pain and suffering and fear of worse to come the next day."

"Because you can conceive of that", Bartholomew nodded approvingly. "You've not only experienced it yourself, but can clearly imagine what others feel in their lives. Sometimes, that empathy may cripple you with the immovable weight of the world, yet you continue on, acting as a beacon of light for others."

"That", she sighed. "Yeah. That was the problem. When I realized that I can't be a beacon for the entire world, not even in Faraway Lands. For everyone we encourage to press on, there's others everywhere else who aren't so lucky."

"Perhaps", Igor suggested. "Yet, the circumstances of the wild card are oft a mystery, even to my sight. Perhaps your journey across the waves is in search of such a beacon?"

"A beacon", she repeated warmly, comforted by the prospect. "Yes, a beacon... a light of hope for everyone in need. Yes... If it's possible to find that, then I'll search every island, every Land for it."

The hunchback's hands spread out, laying themselves across the handles of his chair. "Then it appears that you have rediscovered your driving force, Voyager. I would advise you not to lose sight of it again, and risk becoming forever lost at sea."

 _Forever lost... yeah._

Ayano Furusato had become lost, she knew. Forever lost at sea, lost to the people who knew her, instead embracing the fabricated reality over them.

And Reiha... Her Shadow, if that really was her Shadow...

"Kaneshiro's solution to a painful world", she realized out loud, "was to learn to enjoy pain."

"She is not the only one to resort to that solution", Bartholomew said, sounding strangely regretful about it. "Other desperate humans utilize that method, causing pain to others to block out their own."

"Yeah", she agreed quietly. "I think I might know a few people like that. But... The key to saving her... That'll be understanding the nature of that pain, right? We won't be able to convince her to leave otherwise."

"Most likely", the attendant agreed, gazing towards the cards set up on Igor's table. "Just as you could not fully reach out to the Priestess or the Hanged Man without coming to understand them."

"Or the Strength", she continued, easily remembering all the things Pelagio had gone through for them- for her. "Or Death; Noel. Although it looks like he didn't need my help to Awaken to his Persona after all."

"The Death Arcana", Igor observed. "Another mystery to many. Yet, there lies promise in developing a bond with that one as well."

"Don't need to tell me that", she noted, happy for once at the prospect. "Another friend. I guess we'll see. Just as we'll see about-"

She was gone, a phantom blown away by the wind as she awakened in the real world. Only the attendant and the master remained.

"Lavenza wasn't wrong", Bartholomew remarked, dutifully moving over to carefully clean the machinery of the cages they had used for nearly a dozen fusions. "Playing host to our wild cards can indeed be quite aggravating. I've never known anyone to doubt themselves so infuriatingly often."

Igor hummed with amusement, unmoving from the ancient-seeming chair as he added a new card to the piles set before him. "Yet, it is the act of dealing with that doubt which allows her to remain on the path of her journey. As we have just discussed, a wild card is chosen for their natural qualities. An unwaveringly kind heart, balanced by a fury rarely seen in current humans... Two passionate sides of the same soul. Fate has determined that is what is needed to prevent the coming tide of regression."

"Or what is needed to lure you into a false sense of safety."

Whatever good humor remained in Bartholomew departed when he heard that honeyed voice. Though the room remained wide open without any hiding places, he still had to follow Igor's gaze to find the kimono-clad figure of Lady Scorpio.

Unperturbed as ever, the master of the Velvet room regarded her without any of the loathing his attendant held, reaching one hand out.

"Lost maiden. So you return here once more. Even when our main guest is due to awake in the real world, you still are able to use her dormant mind as a conduit to reach this place." He chuckled darkly. "How fascinating."

"Not for long", the master of the Karma club amended, the motionless mirrored mask revealing little in the way of expression. "I merely wished to observe her reaction to recent events. It would seem your chosen savior is wavering, Servant."

"If you were watching that", Bartholomew spat, knowing without needing to test that it would be impossible to expel this mental phantom from their ship, "then you should know my master doesn't choose the identity of the wild card. The _world_ does. Or rather, humanity's needs."

"Of course he would say that", Scorpio scoffed. "As though he would ever take the blame for his own sins, allowing the torture of yet another innocent with the wild card's trials. But mere words will not save you forever. Soon enough, that girl will come to understand the truth of your twisted little games, just as I did. And when she does, do you believe that you will be able to keep your master safe from her wrath?"

Momentarily freezing up at the prospect, the handsome attendant scowled. "If necessary, I will."

To the astonishment of them both, Igor's smile shrunk slightly, his head turning down into his chair to obscure most of his face until his nose was touching the edge of the table.

"You persist in misunderstanding events", he observed, his high voice not exactly sad sounding in the traditional sense, but absent its usual morbid enthusiasm. "Clinging to the path of hatred, averting your eyes from the truth."

" _Your_ truth", she sneered, spreading long-sleeved arms to encompass the empty Velvet ship. "And just look at where your truth has brought all those who believed in you. Cursing them with hope, when I have foreseen the reality myself. I've seen it in the minds of countless humans. This world is doomed. Humanity, in its current state, is _doomed_. The only way for humans to survive is to change what it means to be human."

"To regress", Igor corrected her politely, as if the masked women wasn't looking at him with pure revulsion. "You speak of discarding much of what makes humans so fascinating to me. It is what makes them worth shepherding away from self-destruction."

"By forcing juvenile humans to do your work", Scorpio pointed out. "No matter. I know better than to think I could convince you to end your cruel game at this point. But before this is over... the game will be ended for _you_ , Servant, by your own chosen champion. I have foreseen it."

Easily able to sense the raw hostility from their uninvited guest, Bartholomew moved to a defensive position between the two, even though he knew the image before him was a mere phantom.

"You see what you wish to see", he claimed. "No harm will come to him while I live. As for the Dream Voyager? I think her resolve may just surprise you."

Equally agitated but unable to use any weapons save her own words, Scorpio began to fade away. "...We shall see."

"Yes", Igor murmured once she was completely vanished, and they were alone again, spidery fingers steepled tight above the cards of fate. "Indeed we shall."

* * *

Persona Profile #11: Mithras

Arcana: Chariot

Strength: Ice (Absorb), Physical

Weakness: None

Abilities: Bufudyne, Mabufudyne, Frozen Reign (Severe ice damage to all targets, chance of inflicting freeze), Mediarama, Megidola, Tarunda, Midnight Sun, Legem Naturae (Absorb attack power from all targets and user gains an equal increase in attack power)

Background: Iranian God of justice, contract and warfare. Worshiped in the Roman Empire during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, this deity was honored as the patron of undying loyalty to the emperor. Followers of Mithraism would often slay animals in their rituals to emulate Mithras' storied killing of a bull depicted in his temples, an animal often seen as a symbol of strength and fertility. Other important elements of the religion were self-denial and a moral questioning of the true self.

* * *

A/N: I hope that wasn't TOO long or over the top/'Dragon Ball' of a fight, even though that was partly the intent in conveying Ryuken's strength as well as Akira/Ren's. Sorry if it feels like there's been too much fighting in the last few chapters, but now everyone's safely back home for a break and it will be a while before I try any more extended fight scenes like _that_ one (mops brow).

Props to my guest reviewer, glad to see you like Julian and Aiko.


	41. Next To You

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _The Fakers Make Their Plans In Shade_

 _Angered To See Their Dreams Delayed_

* * *

6/15 Sunday

Afternoon

 _Thorns. Burning. Pain. A world of pain. A universe of it. Embrace it. Become one with it._

 _Hurtsss..._

Dawn.

 _Or at least, it feels like it's time to get up,_ Aiko considered in the faint light.

The lingering memories of her own screams aside, waking up back in her dorm bed with the sunlight streaming through the blinds, creating a sense of security and warmth that she had never really appreciated before now. It was infinitely preferable to waking up in that awful thorn-covered brace, and it was now possible to banish the nightmares of it by simply forcing herself not to let those images, the memories of past anguish, crawl back in.

 _Maybe just a little bit longer,_ she considered in the muted darkness of the room. Her roommate Mirambela was still sleeping soundly in the bed at the other end of the room, after all. The expression frozen on her face looked far too content- even cute- to risk breaking just yet. _Mira..._

Maybe it was just the heat of the sheet cover making her feverish, but for a brief moment, it felt is though their usual roles had been reversed, with Mira being the protector, the strong one.

 _Of course she was,_ Ai remembered, on the verge of going back to sleep on that thought. _They all did. They all teamed up to save me, to protect me. It's because of_ them _that I'm not waking up in Kaneshiro's loving care, trapped in that awful slum of a city._

 _I can afford to sleep a little longer. It's our day off. No need to get up just yet._

 _Here, at least, I can feel safe. Yes. Safe and warm and happy with Mira-chan beside me..._

She was almost all the way back down into the pillow when her eyes caught a fleeting glimpse of the clock radio on her desk, and all thoughts of further sleep immediately vanished into the ether.

" _T-two-thirty?!_ ", she exclaimed involuntarily, sitting up with a start. After finally returning from the gate, they'd barely spoken or done anything except trudge wearily back to the dorms and fall down into bed. That had happened even earlier than the campus' usual curfew.

 _Meaning that we must have been sleeping for at least_ fifteen hours. _I knew we were all exhausted after all that fighting, but... lucky it was a Sunday, I guess._

 _Assuming we haven't actually slept_ thirty-nine _hours and it's now Monday._ Thankfully, her phone confirmed this wasn't the case.

Still, it was a stark reminder of just how hard they'd been pushing themselves in the other world. _Not just physical exertion and injuries, but using up mental energy in order to use our Persona powers again and again._

And the others, she knew, had actually gone through more fights than she had, in order to reach her. Hence why she had been the only one with the energy left to follow after Joker during that nightmarish gauntlet of a fight, and lend him everything she had left in order to finally defeat Ryuken Samesaji's impossibly powerful Persona, Mithras.

 _Which happened after he beat the stuffing out of us,_ she noted, feeling dull aches from several hard hits and easily remembering every one of them. Samesaji- Prince Taurus- had just kept on coming after them, soaking up attack after attack without stopping, without ever letting up his own offensive of ice skills and brutal physical power, likely due to his ability to heal himself.

 _Without Kurusu-kun jumping in to turn that fight around, we_ all _would have died. End of story._

And for his efforts, he'd suffered the worst injuries of any of them, putting him in the care of Tosashimizu general hospital. _Have to thank him later,_ she knew. _At least he's getting some more time with Nijima-san, if not exactly in the way he would have liked..._

Something made a gurgling sound then, and she realized just how hungry she was. _Right. Food first,_ then _wake Mira-chan up._

 _Can't let this day go to a complete waste._

* * *

 _AK: hey_

 _AK: everyone up?_

 _JR: um, yeah_

 _JR: it's 3:30_

 _MS: we slept in untio 2:30_

 _MS: *until_

 _JR: lol_

 _JR: not hard to guess why_

 _(NV has joined the chat)_

 _AK: when did you get up?_

 _JR: does it matter?_

 _AK: ..._

 _NV: he was up and out of his room at 2:15 i believe_

 _JR: no fair!_

 _JR: you weren't as tired as i was bc you didn't fight!_

 _MS: easy boys, its not a contest_

 _AK: i can't believe it, never felt so tired before in my life 3o_

 _JR: ikr_

 _JR: feeling much better now tho_

 _MS: impossible to tell how long we were in there for. would guess maybe 15 hours, maybe just shy of a full day._

 _NV: i assume that isn't what you normally do?_

 _AK: no way, that was a one-time only thing_

 _MS: we only stuck around that long because we had to save Tsuruga-chan from the Shadows_

 _MS: if we'd left and come back the next day, who knows what might've happened? she might have become trapped there_

 _NV: oh that's right, the gate only opens in the late afternoon, correct?_

 _JR: right, at the time when then sun sets into the sea, this crazy green flash goes up and the gate opens up_

 _JR: then you only have a few minutes, only we can see it tho_

 _AK: anyways, I'd like to have a meeting today if that's ok_

 _NV: certainly_

 _JR: sounds good, wasn't planning anything else today except resting_

* * *

No longer blocked off by the obvious restriction of police barriers, the sunlit cave on the rocky shore of Yume Bay which the Voyagers had previously used for emergency clothing changes remained a useful sanctuary for private gatherings. So long as no one was too loud, the cave's lime rock formations could generally be relied on not to carry the noise outside onto the beach and alert any beach-going passerby.

Which was why Mirambela reacted with all due alarm when she heard a whooping laugh emerge from the depths of the grotto mere seconds after Aiko had walked in there, quickly following after her to see what the problem was.

Though she was on the sandy rock floor, her friend didn't seem injured, merely taken by a bout of unforced amusement such as she would struggle to recall.

"Ai-chan, what's hap... oh."

By the time Jiachi made his way inside as well, and Pelagio had swooped in through a glowing fissure in the ceiling, Aiko had recovered enough to speak again, looking up at Noel Vitienne's handsome features with tears not of sorrow as had happened far too often lately, but of genuine laughter.

"Haha... Oookay, I'll bite... _why_?"

Tall and rigid, as if he was afraid to move around too much, Noel let a shy grin creep onto his face. "Because you seemed as though you needed it, Tsuruga. A good laugh, I mean. My mother once told me that a good laugh can dispel nearly any depression."

None of the others quite reacted to him as dramatically, although Mira did cover her mouth at the sight of Noel dressed up in what was unmistakably a classic 'Senshi' costume, a lustrous blue ribbon in his chest area flaring out from a heart-shaped brooch over a sleeveless white tunic molded to the body with a brief wrap of orange cloth laid over the top and down the back. Behind him, another ribbon protruded, this one bright yellow, and beneath that an orange skirt lay folded around his exposed legs in a V shape. He'd even worn high heeled shoes, and long gloves matching the outfit's design and color.

Julian chuckled at the sight as well, but he sounded more nervous than amused, taking his seat on a rock. "Heh. You're nuts, dude. What if someone had seen you like that and snapped a picture? That's blackmail for life, man."

Noel looked confused. "Truly? Why is that?"

Mira and Aiko looked at each other and giggled helplessly for a moment. Though he usually spoke the native language well enough, Noel's Japanese often sounded halting and stiff, a reminder that he had only spent a few years in the country with large breaks in between school terms. Here was another reminder that there were still a few things obvious to a lifetime native that he might not fully grasp that seemed obvious.

"And I'm sure it has absolutely _nothing_ to do with those insults Samesaji made yesterday", Mira quipped once she'd calmed down. "Saying that we were naive, that we were like Magical Girls."

"And Magical Boys", Noel added insistently, still not quite understanding, his hands nervously clasping at the apex of the waist. "Though I must say, this skirt feels comfortably light, but it is rather drafty. I think I'd prefer to sit down."

"Go ahead", Ai waved. "So... you decided to go to a costume shop and buy that because you thought I needed cheering up?"

"Right after I brought Kurusu-kun to the hospital last night", he confirmed. "I passed by the mall on my way back to the campus, and it caught my eye. Was that wrong?"

"No", she assured him, wiping away the last of the tears. "It's just fine. More than fine, in fact. It might be just what I needed after yesterday."

"Me too", Mira agreed. "Though Jiachi is right- you might want to head back to the dorms and change clothes right away when we're done here."

Stretching out, Jiachi gave a lopsided grin. "Heh. Man, you couldn't _pay_ me to wear something so girly like that. Whatevs, on to business."

Making a conscious effort not to stare too much at Noel, Aiko stood up.

"Right. First off, I want to thank you. All of you, for doing what you did yesterday. I know it was hard. The hardest fights that we've ever had, and all in a row like that. Frankly, I'm amazed that we all came out of it okay. I've been told that I can thank Pelagio for that."

Their silver-winged falcon friend briefly puffed his round chest up, but then remembered he had an audience and dialed it back a notch. "Hmph. It was the least that we could do for you, captain. After all, you went to similar efforts to save each of us as well."

Surprisingly, her face fell at the mention of those past achievements. "All the same... I heard that you were the one who rallied the others, even when things seemed impossible for you. You took over as leader in my place, right?"

"Correct", he said a bit more anxiously. "We took what humans call a 'vote'. I was the logical choice, and so everyone except for the brat voted for me to act as leader in your-"

He broke off because Aiko had- very carefully given his small, delicate-seeming stature- embraced him in her arms.

"Oh... oh my."

"Even before all that happened yesterday", she explained, beaming, "I've been taking you for granted, Pela-tori. Here I was, a girl with a completely loyal, capable...", she paused, not wanting to use the obvious words of 'servant' or 'butler', "...companion who looks after himself without any help and only wants to protect me. How many people are lucky enough to get that kind of gift thrown in their lap like that? And you managed to save me. You're not just strong, but smart as well. Thank you so much. For everything."

Peering around, he flew up into a higher, more isolated perch, for once not saying anything.

"I think he wants to say is 'it was my pleasure, captain'", Mira finished for him. "But you're right about that. Without Pela-tori, we'd never have pulled it off."

"Or without our newest member", Julian pointed out hastily. "Vitienne might not fight Shadows with us, but his other skills rock hardcore."

"Yes", Ai agreed, regarding Noel kindly as well. Now that they'd started talking, he didn't seem to find the sensation of the Senshi outfit quite as distracting, instead focusing on her words. "We owe you as well. I guess Mira-chan was right in bringing you along against my orders after all."

"Thank you", he said with a more solemn bow of contrition. "However, the fault may be mine, for failing to share knowledge of my Persona with you earlier, until it was too late. _Vergebung, mein kapitan_."

Recognizing the last word, Aiko sighed. "Great. Now you're got _him_ doing it too. I told you before, I'm only your captain when we're in the other world."

"Sorry", Julian snickered, looking up at Pelagio, the initial culprit who had started the accidental trend of mentally referring to Aiko as 'the captain'. "It's a habit."

"Maybe", she allowed. "But I'm glad to see you all got on fine without me. That's why... I think it's a good idea to continue it. We'll keep Pelagio in the position of '1st mate'. If I ever get knocked out or something else happens to me that stops me from leading, he's in charge until I'm back, got it?"

Pelagio reacted as though this command were another grand gift presented to him, standing up on his talons and giving a formal bow down to them all. "It is the greatest of honor, captain. I promise to always stand by my duties."

"I know you will", she said confidently before returning to Noel. "As for our new member, I wasn't there when his Persona woke up."

"We weren't either", Julian explained. "There's no freakin' way that was his first time. He didn't even absorb his Shadow the way we did."

"It wasn't my first time", Noel confessed, bowing nervously. " _Vergebung_. This is what I have been hiding from you all for so long. It started when I was at the hospital, still trying to understand how it was that Furusato-san could be gone."

"I know", Ai understood. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you back then. I'd only just discovered Faraway Lands myself back then, and I was trying to save Mira-chan from her Land."

"It's not a problem", he insisted. "Besides, someone else was there for me then. Her name is Cecille Yumika. The younger sister of Principal Yumika."

They all stared at him in silence, too shocked to speak until Pelagio made a polite coughing noise.

"Your school principal's younger sibling?"

" _Ja."_

The tall boy's outfit hardly blended with the seriousness of the current subject matter, Aiko noted. "And she... knows about the other world?"

"She does", Noel confirmed. "She brought me there, so that she could show me the truth of what had happened to Furusato-san. That she had willingly entered the gate at Yume Bay, and was now lost forever in a world of her dreams."

They all digested that for a moment. "So she knows about that", Mira pondered. "Do you think the Principal knows?"

"She... would not say", Noel admitted anxiously. "She is quite distant from him, almost never visiting our campus. Instead, she teaches at Shiritzu Primary school, closer to the city."

"I went there", Julian noted, sounding aghast. "Never had her as a teacher though. I guess it was too long ago for that. She's pretty young, right?"

"34 years", he answered, his eyes darkening. "However, she possessed a great deal of experience with the other world. Including her own Persona powers."

"Her own..." Julian froze up, pressing one hand to his head. "Wait, I remember... was she wearing blue crystal earrings? Matching blue hair, kind of bitchy?"

"Two out of three", Noel replied with an unfavorable glance. "And while I would never describe her in such a way, it is true that she was rather aggravated at times, particularly whenever the subject of her brother came up."

"That's it then", Jiachi breathed, his brown eyes wide, scarcely believing their good fortune. "Captain, we've _found_ her. We found Queen Aquarius."

* * *

Standing in his freshly-emptied quarters, Ryuken Samesaji fought to find a reason to move.

"I failed", he announced dejectedly to the blank walls. "I wish there was another way to say it, but there it is. I failed. They beat me. I fought with all my strength and _still_ they beat me."

Lady Scorpio always seemed to him to be slightly leaking her emotions through the cracks in her mirrored geisha mask. Even with her face obscured, it was possible for him to intuit her feelings before she spoke.

" _Joker_ defeated you", she corrected sternly. "If the Phantom Thieves had not interfered, then your triumph over those foolish children would have been assured."

"But he beat me", he insisted. "I threw everything I had at him, and he beat me. _Legem Naturae_. I lost. You're finished when you lose."

Legem Naturae. The law of nature that humanity had buried, that he had hoped would guide the new world that was coming. The lack of which, he had figured, had doomed the current humanity.

"I should have let him kill me."

Her touch surprised him. Despite being covered by a layer of cloth, it felt as warm to him as fresh blood, pulling him into a gentle embrace from behind.

"I have no doubt", she whispered into his ear, "that you fought to the very best of your abilities, as you always do. That is why I couldn't allow you to die yet, why I had King Leo bring the Xibalba retrieve you from there. You are too valuable to us, my Prince. Without you, our Salvation may never come to pass."

Part of him knew that, of course. He was only one of the Masked Circle left who could properly run things here, who could actually go outside and make the arrangements necessary to keep their stylish facade of a nightclub operational. While there had been some fun aspects to the job, much of it was irrevocably boring for him now that he was forced to handle almost everything himself.

That boredom had built up his relish for any possibility of a fight until he could barely focus on anything else. "I miss Queen Aquarius", he repeated. "Half the work feels like a tenth."

"I know. It's been difficult without her", Scorpio soothed him, her voice hushed and motherly. "Perhaps I should take over the training of her replacement more, now that we're certain that Aiko Tsuruga won't be joining us for this."

"No she won't", he admitted. "She's too young to understand the truth. They all are. I thought that Joker might be different, but..."

"Hence why you removed all of this", she understood, indicating the blank walls which had mere hours ago been covered in all manner of Phantom Thieves' merchandise, everything from posters to toys to ancient packages of uneaten Phantom wafers.

"Yes", he said, sagging in her embrace. "The Phantom Thieves... they aren't what I thought they were all this time. They had the power to change the world sitting right there in their hands, just _waiting_ to be used six years ago... and they tossed it away like garbage."

His good hand tightened into a fist, aggravating his wounds, but his anger blocked out the sharp pain. "It makes me so damn mad. All this time, and they're still just a bunch of kids playing dress-up, just like the Dream Voyagers. No one so stupid should have that kind of power."

"It's alright", she promised him, drawing him in closer. "Everything will be alright, my Prince. I've already made preparations to ensure that Joker- that all the Phantom Thieves- will be unable to interfere with our plans ever again."

"Good to hear", he sighed. He wasn't merely lamenting a defeat, but rather the loss of a man. A hero who he'd idolized, even before attaining the power himself. _If only he would listen, if only he wouldn't stand against us, if only Phantom Thieves had delivered on what they promised us... Then none of this would be necessary now._

But he'd lived too long to dwell any further on 'if only'.

"Just focus on your recovery for now, Prince", Scorpio whispered. "Leo and I shall focus on dealing with Joker and his successors."

For a moment, he swore he could see Akira's uncompromising face staring back at him through the Lady's mask instead, and closed his eyes. _Goodbye. And good riddance._

"Let me just ask this of you", he spoke, his lean face and voice heavy with sorrow... but not sorrow at his loss in battle.

"Don't kill Joker. _He's already dead_. The man who led the Phantom Thieves, the one who inspired me to be who I am, who got me this far in life... it could be he never existed at all."

* * *

The team's reactions to her command were just as varied as their powers in the other world, but Julian was the only one to speak out about it.

"No? Why not? If Yumika really is Queen Aquarius, then we need to get after her, pronto!"

Aiko raised a single thin finger, imploring for his patience. "I understand. You think she's at Shiritzu to try and mold those poor little kids into soldiers for the Masked Circle, right?"

"She would never do that!", Noel protested in fear of a possible confrontation between them and Cecille. "She repeatedly expressed a dislike for Lady Scorpio and her goals!"

"Exactly", she agreed gratefully. "The fact that she's not working at the Karma club anymore is more proof of that; Scorpio specifically said that she was looking to make me a replacement for the old Aquarius. Furthermore, she didn't try to capture Rosea-kun's Shadow when they met up. She tried to drive it off instead, knowing how dangerous it was."

"She didn't stop Samesaji from taking it off her though", Jiachi maintained, still sore about the memories he'd inherited from his Shadow's brief sojourn into the real world.

"Probably because she knew she couldn't beat the Shadow normally if it decided to attack her", Mirambela considered carefully. "And if Samesaji decided to employ the same methods they used before at Nijima-san's apartment and create a 'dimensional space' to use Personas in, they'd end up having a huge, destructive fight right here on school campus, possibly hurting people."

"Don't get me wrong", Aiko emphasized, seeing Julian's initial impulse wasn't quite erased. "I definitely still want to meet Yumika-sensei at some point, and try and get some more information about the Masked Circle out of her... But we have bigger fish to fry right now. No pun intended."

"Kaneshiro", Pelagio chipped in, taciturn as ever.

Mira looked drained at the prospect. "Really? So soon after last time?"

Looking up at the sunlight coming through the fissure, Ai shook her head, immersing her hair in it. This was one part of her plan she wasn't completely confident in yet. "...No. Not 'so soon'. I know better than anyone just how much our last trip took out of us. It'll be days before we're back up to full power, and going after Kaneshiro- after Hayato-senpai's Shadow- with anything less would be suicide."

"But-", Noel began to argue.

"We've still got time", she promised him, knowing exactly how careless such a statement sounded. "I checked the forecast already today. The tide won't start dropping again until the 21st, so we've got at least five days to wait."

"So we just wait?", Jiachi stood up, offended by the prospect. "Just sit here on our asses while Senpai's trapped?"

"We had to take breaks when we were rescuing you as well", Mira reminded him, sounding more than relieved that they wouldn't be returning to the vast noir city right away. Even now, it was difficult to keep her eyes all the way open as she spoke. "Fighting Shadows is _exhausting_. What we did yesterday went beyond that, in case how late we all woke up this morning didn't clue you in. We _need_ time to recover before we head back in."

Feeling at last like her friend was back after a long absence, she turned and smiled. "I'm actually surprised you're willing to take a break though. I know how much Hayato-senpai means to you."

Aiko nodded back, sanguine. "I might not be here now if it weren't for her helping us out with Kujou. She's... Well, I shouldn't say anything yet until we know the full truth. That's the other reason why I want to wait a few days. We need more information if we're going to pull her out of there. We need to know more about _her_."

Saying it that way inevitably reminded her of just how little any of them actually knew about Reiha. _Never asked about her family, her interests, why she's so hell-bent on justice, or how she became best friends with_ Kujou _of all people..._

Noel suddenly made a desolate expression, putting gloved hands to his face in mortification. " _Sheisse_. She was knocked out during the battle with Samesaji! We should have grabbed her then!"

"A bad idea, sir Vitienne", Pelagio warned him. "Attempting to take the ruler away from their Land by force _always_ sets off alarms, drawing in every single Shadow there to prevent them leaving and destroying their entire world. That would have included the leader Shadow, Kaneshiro."

"Yes", Aiko confirmed regretfully. "Who we were in no condition to fight after Samesaji. Even Kurusu-kun was depleted and injured after that."

"If we'd been quick about it, used that Breach you used to return to the wharf before..." Noel insisted, still aghast at the opportunity he thought they had missed out on.

"Maybe", Aiko allowed patiently. "Or maybe we'd be all dead if we tried that. Or worse, we'd all be Kaneshiro's 'special guests' back at city hall." The instinctual shiver running through her bones whenever she mentioned that particular Shadow and its cruel habits felt like winter's chill had intruded into summer. "Whatever. It's done with now. We can't rewind time, and thinking about it, it's better to wait than gamble with all our lives."

"Beautiful!", the ringing remark echoed into the sea-washed cavern, drawing their attention to the tiny figure there, who had nearly managed to blend into the darker parts of it with his black fur as he wandered in, looking innocent as if he'd come by mere chance. "That's very clever, for someone so young. You're correct, of course. When a critical failure could possibly destroy your entire operation, it's always best to err on the side of caution! That's Phantom Thief rule number 12!"

Seeing their guest hop up on a rock, Noel and Julian stared in shock while Pelagio turned away, folding his wings up tight as if trying to camouflage himself in the light.

"Um, guys?", Julian asked out loud. "I'm uh, pretty sure this cat is talking to us."

"I hear it too", Noel said, looking just as stunned. "What is this?"

Morgana somehow managed to wring a look of indignation out of a cat's button-nosed face. "What? You _still_ don't recognize me? After I went to all that trouble of healing you before?"

Finally catching the voice, Jiachi calmed down a notch and sat. "...Oh. Right. You're that... bobble-head thing who was with Kurusu, yeah?"

" _Thing?!"_ , he exploded. "I ought to scratch you for that! I am Morgana!"

"Calm down please,", Noel held up his hands peacefully. "We were merely taken off guard, you see. We've never seen a talking _katze_ before, although it seems that you two have."

"We have", Aiko confirmed, trying not to laugh too much at their reactions. "He's Kurusu-kun's companion, and another Phantom Thief. He came when Nijima was injured and spoke with us about the culprits."

"So you must be Julian Rosea", Morgana noted more amiably. "I've been listening to your planning session for a while, and I must say I'm impressed. It definitely wasn't easy for Joker to prioritize with so many goals to juggle when we were stealing hearts." Regarding Mirambela with a bright-eyed gaze, he snickered lightly. "Sometimes, I think he put off sending out our calling cards to the last possible moment on purpose, just to mess with the others' heads."

"Shh!", Julian hissed in a rare moment of fright. "Dude! You shouldn't talk about that stuff here!"

"It's alright", Mira reassured him calmly, shifting over to Morgana's rock to begin softly stroking his fur, an act which their guest obviously enjoyed by the look and sound of it. "Just like with Pela-tori, only people who have been to the cognitive world can understand Mona-chan. Everyone else just hears meowing... or, um, chirping, in Pela-tori's case."

"Please", Pelagio's voice came down to them as proof of concept. "I am no mere nesting babe. I do not _chirp_."

"Nope!", Morgana chortled, "you squawk instead! Like a big annoying seagull!"

"Hmph! Scurrilous feline!"

"Pompous bird-brain!"

"Enough", Aiko called, amazed as anyone else that not only Pelagio but Morgana as well actually obeyed her, stopping their fight. Encouraged by the sight, she nodded to their guest. "It's always good to have approval from one of the Phantom Thieves."

"Not just one of the Phantom Thieves", Morgana corrected her cheerily. "I was their chief tactician! They never, ever would have been able to pull off their heists without _my_ skillful guidance through those Palaces!"

"How wonderful!", Noel remarked, oblivious to any of the skepticism on Jiachi or Pelagio's expressions. "All the better to help us plan out our next moves, yes?"

Basking in the praise, Morgana still seemed a bit thrown when he finally looked at Noel directly. "Wait... why are you dressed up like that? Are you actually a girl as well?"

"It's a long story", Aiko sighed. "I guess you weren't here for that part. Anyway, how is Kurusu-kun doing?"

"Don't worry about him", their guest assured. "He'll be fine. He's survived much worse than that, and he has Nijima there with him. You need to focus more on your own timetable."

"Can't argue with that", Jiachi remarked, leaning back to relax now that he was sure Morgana was no threat to them. "So, Hayato-senpai. What _do_ we know about her?"

Sensing everyone's eyes naturally drift to her, Aiko stood, trying to slowly spin around to regard each of the others in turn as she spoke.

"Well... she's a 3rd year at Koashimizu. From what I've heard her grades aren't exactly the best, but she's a member of the student disciplinary committee."

Noel made a revolted face at that fact, prompting her to explain further. "No no, it's not like that. She might have been Kujou's friend once, but she's nothing like her. Besides... even if it was Kujou herself trapped in that world, we'd still try to rescue her, right?"

"If you say so, captain", Noel acceded quietly. "All must be given a chance to redeem themselves in God's eyes, after all."

"She's just the opposite", Aiko continued, looking at Mira. "Right?"

"Right", Mira seconded. "She's actually helped us many times before, tipping us off about whatever nasty prank Kujou was planning to try and humiliate Ai-chan. She says she's a big believer in justice, and what we saw yesterday proves it."

"Right", Jiachi remembered. "All those Shadows in that Land were ranting about that stuff. They think they're the law and we're the criminals."

"Just like with Palaces", Morgana offered. "The Shadows enforce the will of the Land's ruler, attacking anything that doesn't fit in with their distortion."

"Or in our case, their fantasy world", Pelagio took over without any hint of their earlier feuding. "The Hayato girl's fantasy is that she is the vigilante crime fighter Hex, striking down criminals as a hero of justice, correct?"

"That's right", Mira nodded before her eyes tightened in worry. "But her Shadow, the one that calls herself Kaneshiro..."

"She helps to enforce the fantasy", Aiko clarified, trying with all her might not to let her voice crack. "Just like with your Shadow, but much more brutal. She tortures Shadows until... until they break. Until they're willing to obey and help further the illusion that they're police helping 'Hex' catch criminals. I doubt the real Hayato-senpai knows about that part."

 _And not just Shadows,_ she considered, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the dampness of the cavern or the breeze coming from the sea. _Would that have been my role too, if I had broken? Another brainwashed enforcer of her 'justice', perhaps a lieutenant in her reign?_

She shuddered at the thought of it.

"And the criminals are there too", Morgana carried on, sensing her disquiet. "When we first arrived there, we met a cognition of Joker."

"Of Kurusu?", Noel noted in surprise.

"Don't panic!", Morgana threw up a paw hastily. "He was weak- he couldn't even use a Persona. I only fought him for a few minutes before he disappeared into smoke. Nothing at all like the real Joker."

"Why?"

"Because he's a criminal too", Mira explained resignedly. "At least, in Hayato's eyes. Apparently, she's not a big fan of the Phantom Thieves."

Morgana smirked at that. "A lot of people never understood what we were really about. There's technically still a 30 million yen reward out for us, but no one tries collecting it any more."

Julian gaped, almost drooling at the figure. "30... million...?"

"Don't even _think_ about it, brat", Pelagio ordered tersely. "The Phantom Thieves are no more true criminals than we are. They used the cognitive world to change the hearts of corrupt and dangerous humans in society, just as we use it to save the souls of those who are lost in the sea of dreams before their time runs out. As we have previously established, anyone who does not follow the 'laws' set down by a Land's master is declared to be a criminal there. It is, to put it bluntly, a dictatorship."

"Maybe", Noel mused unhappily. "But what about in our world? How would the public view our resolve if they knew of the Dream Voyagers?"

Moving back, Aiko pressed a comforting hand to his shoulder. "No need to worry about that. The only time that normal people can see our... let's call them 'after school activities' is when they're asleep, dreaming. Even then they only get brief flashes. That's why we use code names, just to be absolutely sure no one recognizes us."

Not quite convinced, Noel looked up at her. His outfit did nothing to hide his inner doubt. "But I did. I saw brief snippets of you and Sorano-san; your battles, your travels. You were in some sort of a desert, fighting Shadows. And before that, you were in some sort of advanced technological... forest. That was what caused me to begin to suspect that you knew of the other world as well."

"That was only because you already knew about it and made the connection", Mira dismissed his fear furtively, trying not to let it affect her as well. "A regular person who saw that wouldn't know what it meant, just as nonsensical as any other dream they have. Even if someone else from school saw us, so what? It's completely normal to see people you know in dreams."

"We'll be fine, man", Jiachi said, smiling confidently. "No one's suspected us yet, have they? Only you. If they told the cops, they'd just laugh it off. They still don't know the real truth about the Phantom Thieves, yeah?"

"That's right", Mira concurred with a bemused smile. "I... actually told the police the full truth of what happened to me when I first went through the gate, and they just assumed I was hallucinating it all. Only Nijima-san believed me."

Breaking the pause which followed, Morgana spoke up. "Most humans- adults mainly- can't accept the idea of the supernatural. It's just too much for them to process, the concept that there's an entire other world they don't know about created by human thoughts, and filled with vicious Shadows. Their own world is already scary enough."

"It truly is like a hell", Noel realized sadly. "But if it is hell, then where is its opposite? Where is heaven?"

Morgana's eyes drooped at the question. "Um... sorry, I don't know. I'm not really into religion."

More worry clouded the tall boy's blue eyes, but after a moment he recovered he earlier confidence, standing back up to nod wistfully at Morgana. "That's alright. Just because none of us have found it, that doesn't mean it's not there. It could be hidden away somewhere, in the farthest reaches of that world."

Aiko watched him, briefly shocked by the realization. "So _that's_ why you wanted to come along with us. So you could try to find a 'heaven' in the other world."

Looking embarrassed again, he nodded, sitting back down with his hands clasped. "That is one objective, yes. Much more urgent is your goal of saving Hayato."

Her face remained troubled however. "All this time, I thought your goal was going to be saving Furusato-san."

His gaze turned back to blank. "If a miracle presents itself, certainly. However, Yumika-sensei was very clear that it would impossible to bring her back." He released a full-body sigh, trying to expel the feelings within his chest. "I have... tempered my expectations on that front. I have accepted that she will never return. That she is gone." His eyes closed, his mournful voice barely audible. " _Auf wiedersehen, meine liebe._ "

"She was correct about that, I'm afraid", Pelagio said, compassion in his raptor eyes for the first time of the day. "It is impossible to recover one who is lost at sea. They have embraced their new reality as the only true one, and their soul cannot leave. I am so sorry, sir Vitienne."

"I know", he whispered bleakly before recovering. Somehow, his outfit did nothing to change the gravity of his poise. "However it's also true that world still has many dark mysteries yet to be unraveled, even by the Phantom Thieves. If we were to discover the ultimate truth about it, perhaps that might lead us to..."

"No matter why you're with us", Aiko took over, trying not to let the sadness that had permeated the cavern drag them all down. "We're glad to have you with us. And I'm sorry for not sharing all this stuff with you earlier, when you were in pain."

He smiled up at her. "You are forgiven, captain."

"Ooh!", Morgana yelped, doubtless as eager as any of them to defuse the gloom. "Is that what you call her in the other world, because she's your leader? That sounds neat!"

"They _should_ call me Saber over there", Aiko explained with just a twitch of annoyance. "But no matter how many times I tell them not to, especially here in the real world..."

Mira chuckled, releasing Morgana. "If it bothers you that much, you should stop being such a great beacon for the rest of us. Why do you think we were so desperate to get you back, Ai-chan?"

Shrugging in exasperation, she stared at Morgana. "Did Kurusu have to deal with this too? Your team looking up to you, insisting you're the boss no matter how much you know you don't deserve it?"

"I'm afraid so", the cat snickered. "But you shouldn't be ashamed! That just shows how much they trust you if they call you captain! It's the sign of a good leader!"

"Better than calling you 'my lady'", Julian snarked.

"Quiet, brat", Pelagio growled.

"Then", she considered, chuckling, trying to hide her own relieved smile. _Thanks, everyone..._ "Then it's the captain's orders that we need to get back on topic. What else do we know about Hayato-senpai?"

No one could offer much- as expected, she was the one who knew Reiha best. "She goes to the fitness club a lot to work out", Jiachi suggested mildly, already knowing that information was probably useless. "That's the only time I see her, really."

"'Work out'?", Morgana sounded surprised. "That sounds more like something that Ryuji would do. I didn't think the people in this country liked muscular women that much. Although... I guess that would make sense if her dream is to be a crime fighter."

"Well, that's another thing about Hayato", Aiko considered, trying not to giggle. "She doesn't care much what other people think of her, particularly with the way she dresses. The only reason she tries to stay on the SDC is so she can keep feeding us information."

"And now that information is gone", Mira lamented. "Aren't you worried about Kujou striking back?"

"Not really", Ai shrugged. "Besides, Hayato-senpai will be back with us soon enough." Seeing a lack of enthusiasm for that, she emphasized. "We'll do it. We _are_ going to save her... we just need a few days to rest up and prepare first."

Morgana nodded, purring as though he knew exactly what she meant by having to rest and prepare for a battle soon to come. "I'd be happy to come along as well when it's time", he offered. "I might not be at Joker's level, but I can still show those Shadows who's boss!"

Aiko smiled. "Thank you for the offer, Mona. But we need someone to keep an eye on Nijima and Kurusu. Now that we've beaten the Masked Circle in a battle, I'm worried they might try something in this world that we _can't_ fight against."

The cat eyes narrowed. "Oh! You mean like when they attacked Makoto?", he realized. "Those bastards... I actually saw the crime scene there. They used a portable humidifier unit to distribute the 'special' water into her apartment before she got home. Talk about low-tech!"

"But it still worked", Mira acknowledged grimly. "They've prevented Nijima-san from investigating them any further- it's impossible to prove they're the culprits when no one else believes in Personas. That's why we need you to be on guard duty, Mona-chan. If they create a 'dimensional space', you'll recognize it, and even be able to fight back with your Persona if they attack. Can you do that for me?"

Though not his first choice, Morgana puffed up in satisfaction as Mira continued petting his neck. "I... O... Of course I'll do it, Lady Mira! You can count on me to protect them!"

"Good", she nodded with gratitude. "And once we've saved Hayato, then we can try to figure out a way to neutralize their threat."

"Yeah", Jiachi agreed, taking a spot next to them. "Meeting Samesaji in person sealed the deal for me too. Those Masked Circle d-bags have to go. They're using their Personas to hurt people, and they even tried to kill us. Taurus, Scorpio, and Leo... I don't give a damn how powerful they are. Some day, we'll bring 'em all down."

"Some day", Aiko agreed, Noel also standing to move next to the others. "But first, there's some other things we need to do... like homework."

"Awesome", Jiachi drawled. "Starting with the toughest thing first. Yaay."

Laughter filled the cavern, even Morgana's.

* * *

Daisuke Kujou always presented a striking figure and worse, he knew it. His forked dark hair had been carefully coiffed to appear smooth and fresh, even lustrous and smelling of pressed lavender, successfully concealing the biggest signs of an age approaching 50.

Personally nearing the time when that became an issue himself, Tetsuo Yumika understood it was more than mere vanity. Someone with the elder Kujou's job had to be much more than just a compelling voice and argument, but present the very picture of the most trusted icons in his country's long storied culture. His suit and tie could have been taken from a million other high-ranking managers in the upper echelons of Tokyo, but he had done something to it to make its black shades even darker than usual, the white and gray shades popping out even in the hazy afternoon light.

This wasn't the first time the man had visited his office with a bone to pick, and the principal of Koashimizu academy doubted it would be the last.

"You've been very busy", he tried to start out friendly against all evidence from previous encounters pointing the other way. "Making speeches in Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ueno... even Osaka."

Kujou gave a long sigh, a peculiar trademark gesture of his that could rumble counter tops in a way that made Yumika suspect that it was a deliberate inflection, not something actually wrong with his throat. "Correct. I _have_ been very busy, Mr. Yumika. You know I can't rest until all of Japan wakes up to reality."

 _To your reality,_ Yumika thought privately.

"Which is why", the older man continued on, "I must apologize. I can't help but feel aggravated that urgent matters have brought me back to Tosashimizu island during such a critical time. Forgive me."

"You are forgiven", the principal notes, adjusting his glasses as though he thought that would actually be the end of it. "However, my earlier response still stands. The purpose of the student disciplinary council is to provide a strong, guiding hand to students from their most responsible peers. If many of those trusted peers feel that one of their own is abusing the power and trust they are given, is it truly my place to ignore them and override their desires?"

Continuing to pace the office- he never once had taken a seat, even when offered, Daisuke regarded him with a shine of danger in his eye. "It is your place as the director of this school to recognize acts of cowardice, and give voice to the truly responsible students at your institution."

Yumika removed the glasses, placed them on his desk. A useful trick, that. He didn't need to be able to see perfectly clearly for this, and not being able to see every hair in the man's snorting nostrils might leave him a bit more resistant to his usual intimidation tactics.

"I apologize if you disagree, Mr. Kujou, but I believe I have been principal long enough to recognize responsibility in students. I consider Mr. Kohru Tatsunoko, not your daughter, as loyal as she may be, to be the most promising of those students... and _he_ was the lead proponent of this case. They were friends as I undestand, and yet he still vouched for her expulsion from the committee, along with the majority of the others."

"I have met Mr. Tatsunoko", Daisuke argued, his features of out focus as desired. "Both of them, in fact. The elder brother, a loyal soldier serving in our military, and the one here. The Tatsunokos are indeed capable, strong examples of true Japanese citizens... but they are not leaders. They are followers. I would think one with the qualities of leader would be able to recognize that."

Yumika looked into the ceiling lights and wondered if there was a way out. There was nothing to do but endure the man's veiled insults and insinuations, as always.

"Without proper leadership or direction, the body flails about, a useless expenditure of energy without purpose or vision", he enunciated every word, drawing it out as though Yumika were a mere child he was trying to educate.

"Prime Minister Tamagami's words, I believe", Tetsuo remarked, for once mildly intrigued that the man was using a line from someone else's speech instead of his own.

"Minister Tamagami is a wise, forward-thinking leader", Daisuke stated, a note of concern creeping into his hard tones. "Unfortunately, age can make fools of even the best of men, and my recent encounters with him suggest to me that his years are finally catching up to him."

That, Yumika knew, was the inevitable consequence of having to pick the second in line from a victorious political party after the original, much younger choice, had suddenly stepped down under the weight of a vast multitude of self-confessed scandals. Tamagami hadn't been bred to be the active, young-seeming face of the United Future party. That responsibility should have been entrusted to Masayoshi Shido, but it was also impossible for him to lead after being found guilty of murders and worse.

Still, for a long time it had seemed like Minister Tamagami was capable of rising to the task. Despite his advanced age he scheduled just as many announcements and conferences as his former boss had, making sure his words would reach out to every corner of Japan. Only now, five long years after his inauguration, was he finally slowing down. A good run, considering the chaotic start his administration had been born from.

He'd had detractors from the very start, many of them beginning with the proposal that the entire United Future Party had in fact been irretrievably tainted by Shido's evil. But this was hardly the first time such grousing had resulted from a scandal and it rarely led to anything happening, simply because destroying the careers of hundreds of others in response to one bad egg wasn't feasible. Others, whose connections to Shido's illegal activities could be undeniably proven, had faced trial and imprisonment, but a solid core of respected politicians remained left over.

And it was clear to him now that Daisuke Kujou was quite interested in adding his name to that core, no longer content with being a mere spokesman for the JCAP. It could very well be that everything he'd done up to this point had been mere practice for this bold play.

 _Which begs the question why he's tipping me off about that. Unless this is some other form of intimidation, warning me that in the future, he might have the power to have me replaced if I don't do as he asks?_

While relatively new to the profession, Yumika was a fast learner. It had inevitably taught him much more about how power structures and politics worked than he had ever wanted to know. While technically the 'highest' position in a school, it also put him into contact with his superiors outside of it, such as the board of education, and those in charge of deciding funding. Such as politicians who took interest in changing the nature of education offered in Japan.

It certainly didn't help that many of the older teachers here such as Mr. Noriyama or Mr. Amatano considered him too young to hold such a position to start with.

 _Perhaps if he were to promise me something concrete, such as more funding for the school, I might actually be willing to listen to his requests. But he's not in a position to offer that yet, and might never be._

He managed a courteous smile. "Elections aren't starting for another year. Surely you didn't come all the way here to secure the allegiance of one voter?"

"No", Daisuke snorted. "This is about an unjust crime committed against my daughter, and how the duly appointment head of her school is going to respond. Am I to assume the answer is 'nothing', then?"

"It is not my place to do so", Yumika maintained cordially. "Mr. Ishinagi, our guidance counselor, has already handed out appropriate punishment to the guilty party. I assume it has had the desired effect, since the responsible student, Aiko Tsuruga, has not had any further violence-related incidents since then. In fact, she's been a model student since that time. Results like that are why I prefer to avoid overly excessive micromanagement of my staff."

The older man's gaze narrowed. "Yes, Ishinagi is an old friend of yours, isn't he? How convenient that must be. I wonder, how often are you required to quash the rumors about him?"

 _Oh. So that's what you're doing? Fine._

"I would think that a politician, or at least someone in training to become one, would know the value of idle rumors."

"Rumors are one thing", Daiksuke maintained, leading Yumika to wonder how much he really knew about Mr. Ishinagi's past as a psychological profiler. "But concrete proof is much more worthy of consideration."

"Yes. And I have confidence that the SDC would not have expelled their veteran leader of three years without concrete proof of indiscretion. If that will be all, Mr. Kujou..."

Of course it wasn't. A man like that always had to have the last word, and he swore he could see the change in the man's posture as he shifted back to 'speech mode'.

"I should think a high school principal might try to remain aware of events happening outside his own campus."

He shrugged, smiling innocently. "Admittedly, I sometimes am a bit too dedicated to my duties for that. I've always sought to keep Koashimizu academy a neutral ground, a place of peace and tolerance no matter what may be happening in the greater world outside of it."

"I understand", Kujou said flatly. "An adequate reason. In that case, allow me to enlighten you. The world, as we currently know it... is doomed."

Pausing, Yumika carefully returned his glasses to the bridge of his nose, the better to try and spot if perhaps the JCAP orator was drunk or something of a similar nature. He'd always been one for mass hyperbole, but that line sounded beyond even his usual exaggerations of fact.

"Doomed", Kujou repeated empathetically. "It's difficult to understand, I know. Recent survey reports indicate that the shortages experienced in other nations over the last few years will only continue to worsen. We've reached the point where our world's resources can no longer support all humans on Earth. Thus, the time has come for the most responsible of us to decide which lives should be preserved... and the United Future Party, of course, is working to ensure Japan and her true people will survive the coming flood."

For once, the principal had no idea what to say to that. For the first time, he wished he recorded conversations in his office.

"You seem unwell, Mr. Kujou", he tried, gesturing to his candy dish. "Would you like something to eat perhaps?"

"You jest", Daisuke scorned him. "But you haven't seen the reports. I have. The coming decades will see many countries throughout the world collapse in on themselves, no longer able to feed their people and thus dooming themselves to the anarchy that follows. We are determined to see to it that Japan will not be lost to the great flood. Those nations who _are_ able to survive it will be blessed with new opportunity, new land- something which I'm sure even you know we are in dire need of at present."

Yumika stared back, looking bored to hide his alarm. _You're not just here to get me to reinstate your daughter. You're here to practice your speeches for the future._

"We will survive", Kujou promised. "Only we, who have not yet completely forgotten the divine rule of harmony, deserve to. In order to ensure that survival, we must regain that harmony, and become a fully unified nation."

That statement, at least, was somewhat familiar. One of the various things the United Future party had promoted both before and after the time of Masayoshi Shido's arrest was the importance of unity at any cost, eternally trying to make amendments to the laws to make consensus easier and arrive at legislative decisions more quickly. History had taught anyone who cared the power of voting in a 'block', and that lesson had been passed on to JCAP's charismatic leaders, directing that block of supporters into the same thinking.

"And if our great nation is to survive the flood to come, Kujou finished dramatically, "any and all obstacles to that harmony must be removed".

What felt now like a lifetime of dealing with the ire of unruly parents prevented Yumika from speaking his mind, but something must have showed through. "I don't believe it will be safe for true Japanese students at this school for very much longer, with the way things are going. I'll be taking Benihime away from here soon, and to a school back in Tokyo which respects the proper guiding principles of our country."

Tetsuo said nothing as the man left in a huff. There was no point. Perhaps there never had been. Nothing he said was going to turn Mr. Kujou away from the course he'd decided on before arriving in Tosashimizu from the JCAP gatherings in Tokyo, no less than any force on Earth might convince him to stop doing those same speeches and whipping the crowd into a frenzy that far too often led to violence... none of which could ever be traced back to him, of course. It was always the perpetrator's crime, and so the perpetrator would be the one to suffer imprisonment and disgrace. All because they lacked the energy or education to think for themselves.

No one had ever told him that being a principal would be easy, and he considered it a valid observation that the actions of both Daisuke Kujou and his daughter had raised that difficulty by an order of magnitude. Despite the bad publicity for the school he knew would follow, he couldn't help feeling glad to see the man go.

He also knew it might not end there.

Glasses glinting in the afternoon light, he reached for his personal phone. "Put out an appointment request for Mr. Ishinagi please", he requested of the energetic secretary waiting for him on the other end. "I'll need to speak with him about something tomorrow."

* * *

Officer Makoto Nijima woke to a faint, steady beep, trying not to let how familiar the sight of the hospital room was becoming bring annoyance to her face. _I don't want the doctors to think me impatient, after all._

 _Even though I am._

The storm had passed, as all storms must, and with it the creeping sensation in her heart that her recent acquaintances were in severe danger out there in the other world. Scattered rain followed, but bearing with it none of the earlier foreboding which had brought her such anxiety before.

Or perhaps, she considered earnestly, she had merely given into the moodiness common to the injured and entertained the worst possible types of scenarios.

The sound of a bedpan's wheels snapped her out of her musings, drawing her attention to the far window where another sheet-clad patient was being moved through the 2nd floor hallway. To her dismay, it was a young-looking girl, dark hair strung out across the pillow suggesting a lengthy sleep, if not catatonic.

"Depressing, isn't it?"

The familiar voice brought her gaze back over to the other side, staring into eager face of Akira Kurusu... confined to a bedpan as well, his left hip engulfed in fresh white gauze.

"This is why I could never work in a hospital", he continued on as if his being here was no surprise at all. "Even Takemi-san preferred her clinic over one of these places."

"K-Kurusu...?"

"Nah", he snickered, dropping any trace of formality in his voice to make it sound like he was some kind of Tokyo vagabond. "Ya got the wrong person, lady." Stretching back across the pillow to show his arms at least weren't injured, he smirked back. "When I said I wanted to spent more time with you, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"H-how did...?" The other shoe dropped, and she focused up. "What happened?"

Gently tapping the knot of gauze as if testing it, he reacted as if seeing it for the first time. "I don't want to go into it too much here, but... Prince Taurus happened."

She stared back, awestruck. _So it was true. There_ were _some battles in the other world yesterday. And it sounds like he was right in the middle of it._

"He injured you in the other world", she observed, alternately shocked and mortified that Akira had been taking such risks while she'd been helpless to do anything. "So much that it carried over into this one."

That had _never_ happened during their time as the Phantom Thieves. They'd always managed to come out of a Palace with their worst injuries abraded by healing skills or items. Perhaps if they'd returned to the real world immediately following the brutal beatdown they'd taken from Yaldabaoth shortly before that malevolent deity's own defeat, the injuries might have carried over as well. It said more than anything else could have about how savage the battle had been, and how close it had brought the Phantom Thieves' respected leader to death.

"Hey, he got it worse than I did", Akira protested innocently. "But, yeah... big problems with my hip until the bone heals."

Relief transitioning into worry, she tightened the corners of her lips, remembering to keep their exchanges about such matters comfortably vague. "Because you rushed into it without thinking."

His good humor left him in turn, though only temporarily. "If I hadn't those kids would've all died. Bastard ambushed them, waiting until they were all tired out... and he was tough, even for me."

She felt her hand trembling against the rail of the bedpan, brought it under control. "So they're even willing to target those kids... Damn it."

"Do my ears deceive me?", he asked in mock innocence. "Or did I just hear _Makoto Nijima_ swear? I don't think you did that even back when-"

"Enough", she cut in, wishing more than anything that she could just rip her way free of the bed, march out of the hospital and give the Masked Circle a piece of her mind.

Of course, even uninjured, she was not likely to be the one to come out of such an exchange.

She sighed in defeat. "So there really is no choice for them. They must fight. Like we did."

"Afraid so", Akira shook his head, sharing in her anxieties. "They want Persona-users... but Persona-users who are loyal to them. And as you can see, that puts us on their hit list too."

"Why?", she asked of the sterile room's air. "Didn't we change people's hearts? Didn't we end the distortion?"

Akira gazed back at her silently, knowing that he didn't need to say anything, that she would be able to quickly puzzle out her rhetorical answer as soon as she was thinking straight again.

And of course, he was right. She swore she could see the domino mask covering his rakish features for a moment, the sheets replaced by Joker's stylish garb.

She willed the illusion away. That was Akira, not Joker. Akira, who was just as fragile as any human. His current injury proved that much.

"...Distortions aren't something that can be permanently fixed", she reasoned quietly. "The current problems in the world are proof enough of that. And we couldn't change every corrupt heart. That's a part of humanity too. To erase that would rob people's free will."

"And these people might not have developed their distortions until recently", Akira finished. "I didn't find much out about how Samesaji and those others with him got so twisted."

"Or how they got the power in the first place", Makoto considered. Explanations of how that had happened didn't seem forthcoming any time soon. "I have some theories, but nothing concrete yet."

Leaning back, Akira stretched an arm out to take her bedpan rail. "Don't strain yourself too hard now. I told you... this is the Dream Voyagers' fight now."

"The Dream Voyagers", she scoffed at the name and all it implied. "A bunch of teenagers."

"Just like we were", he maintained. "Sure, their leader's kinda young... but I've seen the fire in her now, fought beside her. She's got the gift. Reminds me of..."

"It doesn't matter", Makoto interjected, not wanting to hear which Phantom Thief Tsuruga reminded him of the most. Particularly since she felt like she already knew the answer. "No matter how much I resisted, they're still trying to be like _us_."

"What's wrong? Scared of being a role model?", he teased.

"A little", she admitted. "I mean... when it was us, if we failed it would be our own fault- mine in particular since I was our tactician. If these kids get into trouble, then there's nothing I can do about it."

For a moment, the room's white walls seemed closer than normal... and then she felt her hand gravitating into Akira's eagerly accepting its warmth just as much as the support in his voice.

"We have to trust them to survive, Nijima. Believe it or not, doing that might actually be harder than taking down a Palace."

"There's no contesting it", she declared without hesitation, realizing only after that he was joking. "This is certainly the more difficult mission."

"Maybe it is", he acknowledged sagely. "Do you think you're up to it?"

Taking his hand, she regarded him fondly. There were certainly worse ways to spend an afternoon in a hospital. "I suppose I'll have to be, won't I? Very well. I accept this mission."

Accepting her grip- strong for someone who had been injured- he smiled back at her in equal confidence. "I had a feeling you would."

* * *

Persona Profile #12: Matador

Arcana: Death

Strength: Wind (Null)

Weakness: Electricity

Abilities: Psi, Andalucia, Sukukaja, Garula, Null Dizzy, Trigger Happy

Background: A Spanish Grim Reaper born from the aesthetics of killing. Derived from the late Latin word _matare_ , which means to subdue or kill. It is also the name of the _toreros_ that perform in the bullfighting events famous in Spain. Matador is one of the _toreros_ , and the word literally means "killer," as it's the matador's job to kill the bull.

* * *

o


	42. Negotiations

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Night In The City Lights So Pretty To Me_

 _Colors Flashing Bright As We Run Down The Street_

 _Waiting To Find Out Just Who We'll Meet_

* * *

6/16 Monday

Afternoon

Today finally broke the streak of rain that had plagued the first half of June. As it usually did, to Aiko's understanding- Japan frequently experienced record amounts of precipitation during the summer months, and the smaller isle of Tosashimizu should only have it worse due to being closer to the ocean.

"That's why we always wear hats", captain Tongwa Byzael commented whimsically as the Fiddler's Green glided across the fresh bay waters, far enough away from shore that the school buildings were tiny figures in the distance. "Chances are more than good when you arrive or leave this coast, there'll be rain either coming or going. Or fog, which is even worse for ships."

Unable to wear the hat from her captain's outfit in Faraway Lands, she frantically looked around for a hat before he handed an old, ragged-looking brown one to her. "Sorry. Guess we should get you a new one next time."

"It's alright", she assured him cheerfully. The hat's slight pressure on her head was slightly distracting, but as had happened so many times today and yesterday, any kind of discomfort was nothing next to Kaneshiro's thorns and words. "I'll go to the mall and buy one for myself."

The words were proving more difficult to remove than the thorns.

 _Is she right? Am I only doing this to save people to make myself feel better? Am I really just... vacant?_

"Looks like you've been having a rough time of it lately", Byzael observed from his perch on the bow. "I suppose school is becoming more fast-paced now that you're almost done for the summer?"

She laughed nervously. _If only it were just that..._ "Oh, am I that obvious? Yes. They want to make sure we know everything we have to for the exams next month. Lots of things we have to study."

He gave an earnest smile. "Don't push yourself too hard now, Tsuruga. If you're not feeling up to it, we can head back."

"No", she blurted quickly before clambering up onto the upraised section of the bow as if trying to show she still had energy. She did, but for how long remained to be seen. "No, it's fine. Studying can wait, but this might not. I'll study more next week, promise."

 _Assuming I'm still alive. Assuming we haven't lost Reiha by then._

Still, the phrase itself felt like a kind of comfort, slipping back into familiar, comfortable patterns that didn't involve the risk of death or pain. There was no doubt left in her mind that Saturday's trials had destroyed much of her previous infatuation with the other word. Now it was merely a task of duty, not seeking the thrill of taking on Shadows as she had before.

 _If we get through this week okay,_ she vowed, _I solemnly swear I will study after school every single day until we get to exams._

Thankfully, the focused ostracism she'd come to expect seemed to have abated today. No one defaced her locker or called her 'Aiko the Psycho', at least not to her face. Instead, the ever-present river of rumors had divided into two major branches, both coming as a surprise.

The first and more prominent in the endless miasma of gossip filling the halls was about Benihime Kujou losing her position on the SDC, being voted out by the other members after dominating it for two years.

 _Schadenfreude._ That was what Noel had called it. Enjoyment made at the suffering and disgrace of someone you disliked. Kujou was still going to her classes, but apparently she didn't talk to anyone much any more. Her former boyfriend, Kohru Tatsunoko, had been the one leading the effort, even presenting recorded evidence of Kujou's crimes against the foreign exchange students... and against her.

 _Justice,_ she preferred to call it. _And only two and a half months late._

The second bit of gossip sounded far more fantastical, but recent experiences had taught her not to discard anything out of hand. If the rumors about Faraway Lands turned out true, then anything was possible.

"I've seen a lot of things out on the wide world", Byzael commented as they, made their way over to Okinoshima, another island off Japan's mainland. "But mermaids? That's merely a fable, you know. It's shared by a lot of countries, but still just a legend invented by sailors."

"Maybe", she admitted. _Still, something must have started this rumor._ "If it is just a legend, why did you agree to take me here?"

Byzael gave a wry, curving smile around his pipe. "Do I really need an excuse to... help train you in the use of my ship?"

She grinned back. "I suppose not." Even those words were an excuse, in a way, covering the simpler reason that he always wanted to spend more time with her in addition to helping her gain new skills.

Most of the time, the feeling was mutual.

Just as Byzael had predicted, their laps around the island proved fruitless. The light rain obscured their vision to a degree, but not so much that she could blame it for their inability to spot any sign of the mauve-colored fins or tails poking out of the surface she'd heard about. After over an hour of this, she felt stupid for ever believing it.

"I'm sorry", she said dejectedly. "I just thought..."

But he didn't look annoyed at all with the waste of time, scanning the water just as carefully as she'd been. "I told you, it's fine. You're young. You're entitled to be fooled into believing certain things. Mermaids don't exist, Tsuruga."

 _Not in this world, at least,_ she acknowledged silently.

"Still", he said brightly, trying to cheer her up. "How many kids your age can say they've been anywhere near Okinoshima island?"

"Huh?" Surprised by the energy in his claim, she looked back at the island, searching for some reason for it. Mountainous and covered with thick greenery, it showed no sign of human habitation anywhere. "Is that a nature preserve?"

Byzael chuckled. "Not exactly. You see, it's considered to be a mystic 'holy site', protected by Shinto taboo. Women are forbidden to set foot there, and even men can only go on a certain spiritual holiday on May 27th."

That rocked her. She stared closer, expecting to see some sign of the Shinto claim on the island and finding it in a small shrine on the north terrace. She hadn't heard anything about this last month. "And", she couldn't help but ask, "what would happen if I _did_ go there?"

"Absolutely nothing! Most likely", Byzael noted cheerfully. "Unless someone who cared saw us, in which case we might catch some flak from up on high. Better to keep our distance anyway- there's rocks."

 _So that's why,_ she considered. _Makes a bit more sense that mermaids, if they existed, might be intrigued by an island with 'mystic power' and want to see it for themselves._

She sighed. _Look at me, trying to figure the mind of a mermaid. It's just another stupid rumor, like the kind that Kujou spread about me. I was silly to believe it._

They were on their way back to the coast when Byzael spoke up again. "It's more than just school, isn't it? Something's really bothering you."

How to phrase it? How to bring it across? It felt wrong to completely lie to this man who had taken the position of her mentor with such aplomb. Certainly, Bartholomew and Igor's words had merit in them, and often she could sense the experience of years behind their subtle voices. But Igor and Bartholomew lived in the world of dreams, confined to their Velvet ship. Byzael lived in reality.

"I've just... been thinking about stuff."

"Very descriptive", he observed so swiftly it almost sounded like it wasn't sarcasm. "What kind of stuff?"

So she told him. Not the fine details that had led to this point, but rather the problem itself. One of the problems anyway.

Removing his depleted pipe, he tucked his hat back and gazed out at the water. "They must be teaching you somethin' right if you're dwelling on stuff like that already."

"I don't think it was anything they taught", she amended. "I just sort of... realized it myself. I wanted to make Koashimizu academy my home, but a school isn't meant to be a home. Not even the dorms, though they're definitely better than the one I had back in Tokyo."

She wasn't speaking of that in terms of luxuries of course, but of people. Mirambela was there. Kotone was there. Reiha _had_ been there.

"To do that", she confessed, "I tried helping out as many people as I could, people who were in need. But... It feels like I only did it so I didn't have to see their sadness every day. How shallow is that?"

Byzael snorted, facing her directly as the wind shifted. "Shallow? Why, it's nothing of the sort. D'yeh really think it makes that much of a difference to people _why_ you help 'em?"

"B-but, I care-"

"Great." She hadn't seen this often, but was continually amazed by how much angry derision he could put into a single syllable, something he had in common with Bartholomew. "Then if you're so worried about being 'shallow', just quit doing that. Look after number one, like most folk in this world do. See how that makes you feel inside."

Her face paled. _Mistake. Mentioning this was a mistake._ "Look, I'm sorry. Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

He said nothing for a while, devoting himself to the duties of running the Fiddler's Green, checking their course and tying the sails. When he was done though, she was still there, still not quite sure if she'd done something to seriously damage their bond. "'S fine", he grunted at last. "Just hit a bad beat, 'S all. Don't like seeing treasures go to waste."

"Treasures?"

He barked a laugh. "You. And anyone else in this world who still gives a damn 'bout anyone but 'emselves. More rare and precious than diamonds, y'are. But I do get what you're goin' through right now."

"What I'm...?" Backing into the railing, she sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation before realizing just how genuine her words were. "Tell me then, captain, what exactly I'm going through. Because I'd _love_ to know that myself."

"Puberty", Byzael joked, watching her reaction before becoming serious again. "'S like I said earlier though. This is the time when kids like you grow up, when they start to realize all sorts of things 'bout the world they live in. Like just how damn big it is. Like just how many people _eight billion_ really is, and just how many of 'em have way bigger problems than you do."

Gruff as his tone was, it was still a much gentler way of putting it than Kaneshiro's tortures had been. She smiled back wistfully. Just watching the news was enough to inform people about enough of that. "And just how insignificant a speck anyone trying to help them is?"

He grinned back. "You're a good girl, Tsuruga. And that's the problem, y'see. You help people you see in need, try and make 'em happy... But you also feel bad for not being able to do _more_."

Leaning back, she studied the thin streams of clouds in the sky, hiding confusion. How? How had Byzael figured it out so quickly without any knowledge of Faraway Lands, Personas or Shadows?

That question and everything connected to it went away when something colorful flickered in the corner of her eye. Running to the opposite rail, she it again, pointing.

"-There!"

Beside her, Byzael focused as well, trying to grasp what they were seeing. "That can't be a... what is that?"

The sudden rising splash, the way the mauve tail arced out of the water couldn't be a coincidence. "A mermaid!", she exclaimed. Stopping only to discard her outer garments- making way for the bathing suit she'd brought for this very situation- she ran to the rail and dove in against Byzael's warning.

Diving beneath the surface confirmed it. The figure was human-sized, yet possessed of a multicolored tail propelling it through the water. A curly mane of almond hair trailed behind it, but it was still too far away to make out any further details. _Not yet. I'm gonna catch you!_

She had always been a good, even expert swimmer, already well-versed in the kinds of motions that propelled you forward the fastest with the least amount of energy, as well as how to come up for air on occasion without losing much speed. She was also pleased to note that the area of sea bed they were traversing held none of the strangely-colored marine flora that was apparently being caused by the intrusion of the waters of Faraway Lands. It was beautiful in its own way, seen up close like this.

But in the end, that was her only victory. After what felt like five minutes or more, her prey was even farther away than when she'd started, erasing the lead she'd built up with all her earlier spent energy. Rising up to breach the surface, she stared as the tail flipped up one final time, spitting out water. "Pah... no fair!"

She was only a minute away from the shore at this point, but was glad to see the sharp stern of the Fiddler's Green catching up to her anyway, lowering down a rope when it drew close.

She climbed it up into a bearded face caught somewhere between irritation and amusement. "Here. I hope that was worth the heart attack you almost gave me."

"Sorry", she chuckled, taking the offered towel to dry off. Looking back, it had seemed like a giddy, reckless thing to do... but she'd gone too long without that feeling, that rush. "I just really wanted to catch it."

 _That's the problem_ , she decided quietly as Byzael set course for home. _I've spent too much time dealing with dangerous stuff that needs me to be serious, to be a leader. It's not just exhaustion from our fights. All work and no play makes jack a bum, or however that phrase goes._

"To catch _her_ ", Byzael corrected calmly. "Sorry to disappoint you, but that's not a mermaid."

She coughed out some more water, realizing now just how far she'd pushed herself trying to catch up. "It sure moved like a mermaid."

He sighed. "And how would you know how fast a mermaid is supposed to move? Watching some kid's show? _Mermaids aren't real_ , Tsuruga. That was just a girl in a mermaid costume."

Her face fell. "What?"

"I've seen 'em before", he explained more patiently. "Big ol' rubber fins that you sheathe your legs in. The first ones were just decorative, but recently there's been some improvements in that field where they can actually help to increase your swimming speed. All you have to do is kick your legs up and down together, and its almost like a giant fish tail."

"...Oh." Disappointment felt like heavier water had gotten in through her ears, dragging her down. "You're sure?"

"Positive", he scoffed, politely returning her garments to her. "I told you, that's just a story. A popular one, sure, but just a story." He laughed softly to himself. "For which I'm thankful. Lots of countries I've visited say that mermaids aren't just pretty ladies with fish for their lower halves, but actually vicious predators that attack ships or lure their crew to their doom."

"That's sirens", Aiko corrected him. She knew that much, after reading up on Lorelei, one of her Personas, and learning that she was actually a siren in her own right. _A good siren though, one who fell in love with a fisherman..._

"More myths", Byzael dismissed her quibbling with an amused nod. "Funny how so many of 'em are pretty ladies."

Far from distracted, she turned back to watch the stretch where the 'mermaid' had gone. "I'm the best swimmer I know, and still she was faster."

"Tired, and wounded in pride", he joked. "Definitely time to head back."

Catching the hint, she moved to help him through the final leg, beaching the ship in the same place they'd found it. If nothing else about Byzael impressed her, it would be the strength he had in order to push the tiny boat back out with only the aid of two ballast chains at the front.

"Where do you get those?", she asked out loud after thinking it over some. "Mermaid costumes, I mean?"

"Well y'see, there's these funny things called costume shops..."

She slapped her forehead. "Right, sorry. Still tired." Costume shops, or their more commonly-used term 'cosplay shops' were seemingly everywhere in Tokyo and a consistently growing market, but a much rarer sight here in Tosashimizu.

In fact, she could only remember seeing one. _The one in the mall. So, unless that 'mermaid' is from out of town, she had to have shopped there._

Bidding the captain a fond farewell, she smiled, humming to herself. _Got you after all._

* * *

6/17 Tuesday

After School

As always, Pelagio saw her coming long before she saw him fluttering up to a rock near their 'hideout'. The bright-feathered falcon seemed completely recovered from the trials from last Saturday, constantly twitching about to cast his raptor's gaze on any moving object, bringing an exaggerated stateliness to his voice as if trying to convince Aiko that he was ready for anything, even a return trip to Reiha's Land.

"You wished to speak with me, captain?"

"Yes. I did", she nodded, first producing a plastic container from the dorms. "I meant what I said to you on Sunday before, about not appreciating you enough... But I also know that actions speak louder than words. So, here you go- Mushi-pan steamed cakes, and caramel-stuffed crepes on the side."

Pelagio stared into the small collection of desserts in confusion, then wonderment. "This... you brought all this here? For me?"

"Got it from the Starlight diner, after my night shift on Sunday", she explained proudly. "They were having a sale. Guess they ordered too much of the stuff to make 'em or something, 'cause they hardly ever put desserts on sale on a weekend."

"...I see." He couldn't hide the way his wing muscles relaxed at the news that she had not been the one to make the desserts. After the disaster at their picnic, one could hardly blame him.

"For the record", she noted, "Otogi-san _has_ been teaching me how to cook better when we're not busy at the Starlight."

"Hmph. I said nothing", Pelagio protested, walking over to sample a tiny bite of one of the steamed cakes, basically round white puffs of dough stuffed near to bursting with bean paste.

He paused, processing the sensations only a moment before his beak opened again.

"This is... mmm...!"

"You like it?", she asked anxiously.

The speed at which he zoomed in for another bite answered that, and she took the cake into her hand, moving it closer so his head wouldn't always have to travel so far. Before long the first cake was gone.

"Thank you, captain. That was... illuminating. And most welcome."

"Any time", she offered before hastily amending. "That is, any time I'm working at the diner and have time to buy desserts before I catch the campus bus... What's wrong? Don't like the crepes?"

Looking more apprehensive now, Pelagio studied the thin pastry rolled closely. "It is not a matter of 'like', I'm afraid. This is not the first time I have tried human food, or even desserts such as these. Restaurants such as the one you work at toss out an incredible amount of food for reasons I have yet to discern."

Her jaw fell. _"You shouldn't eat out of dumpsters!"_

"Yes", he agreed. "I understand that now. I have learned that most human food contains a large amount of what they call 'sugar'. Since my body is much smaller, this 'sugar' has a greater effect on me than it does them. For several hours afterwards I felt rather ill... and these smell as though they have a great deal of sugar in them. I'm afraid I must decline your magnanimous offer, captain."

"The caramel", she realized. "Oops. Guess I forgot about that."

"Hey! Don't feed the birds!", a passerby jogger called to her, seeing her intent. "It's bad for them!"

Playing along, she leaned back to address him. "It's fine! He's a magical bird!"

With an exasperated shrug, the jogger continued on.

"It's fine", she said, sensing a protest from Pelagio before it came. "Even if he actually calls someone, we'll be gone by then. Another cake? They're not as sugary, right?"

"They are not", Pelagio agreed, looking tempted to take another offered bite. "However, I believe this will be enough for now. As I have mentioned, I am smaller than the rest of you, and require much less food to operate at full efficiency. I would suggest that you eat the crepes, and set aside the cakes for later."

They were quite delicious, even after sitting in the container for so long. Licking the caramel off her fingers, Ai turned back to him. "I just didn't like the idea of you eating mice all the time."

Folding his wings protectively, Pelagio regarded her at an angle. "And yet, that is how other birds of my kind nourish themselves. I have become quite efficient at it. I'm certain they taste better than Shadows would, at any rate."

"R-right", she tried not to look too repulsed at either prospect. It was just one more reminder that Pelagio had spent years alone in Faraway Lands, fighting only to survive with no one but the Shadows for company. Killing and eating mice or other rodents was just a variant of that routine, though apparently Morgana disliked it, always preferring human food if he could get it. "That was the other reason I wanted to talk to you, actually."

"Yes, captain?"

Not quite sure how to explain it in words at first, she withdrew her phone. "I can call Mira-chan, Rosea-kun, and Vitienne-kun any time I need to on here. But you can't use a cell phone, or at least you can't carry one with you."

"Ah", his head bobbed, comprehending. "So you seek a method to contact me with similar efficiency for our operations. Perhaps we could purchase a new phone and hide it in the cavern somewhere?"

Aiko shook her head, counting the reasons off on sticky fingers. "That place is damp and I don't think a phone would last very long in there. You'd still have to be near the phone to hear it ring. Also, I'm not sure if your speech would carry through a phone, or if it would just come across as noise."

"Perhaps I should learn to create text messages instead?", he suggest idly before returning to the problem at hand. "Hmmm... Ah! I think I may have the answer. How good are you at whistling, captain?"

She rang out a brief, high-pitched ditty before smiling. "Captain Byzael taught me how."

"Excellent." Pelagio's tone of satisfaction masked any lingering resentment about the mention of the old fisherman. "Then we need only develop a specific code, and I shall come to you when you when I hear it."

"A code?", she wondered. "Of whistles?"

"Yes. As you have seen, my sense of hearing is far greater than a human's. Sometimes to my detriment, if I may say so. But I'd certainly be capable of hearing a distinct, high whistle pattern over a crowd. So long as you remained outdoors and did not travel too far away from the school campus, that is."

She brightened, clapping. "That's _perfect_! I love it!"

"Call me any time that you wish", he offered with a formal bow on his rigid talons. "I remain, as ever, your sworn protector, captain."

His standard posturing brought her back to the other half of her goals here today. "Thanks. It's just like I said. You watch the gate for us, you watch the dorms in case the Masked Circle tries anything. Pela-tori... you always try to keep all your problems to yourself. You push yourself to the limit and beyond for us, and I thought you deserved something tastier than mice to eat at least."

His fierce raptor face couldn't really convey happiness or satisfaction effectively. Only his normally aloof voice could. "I greatly appreciate these gifts, captain. And..."

"And this isn't just for our operations", she blurted. "I want to get to know you better. It's not fair. Up until now, you've basically been like a flying butler to me. To us. Except I can't pay you in anything but desserts. So... if there's anything that's ever bothering you, just talk to me. I'll listen. Maybe I'll be able to help."

"My duty is its own reward", Pelagio emphasized, fierce eyes penetrating. "However... I do greatly appreciate such a gesture, captain. Of course, your orders are absolute. If ever I am imperiled, I shall let you know of it."

"That's all I ask", she nodded in relief. "Talk to us. Even Rosea-kun, if that's okay."

"Hmph." He sounded strangely thoughtful however. "I must admit, I have grown to appreciate the brat's... tenacity. He is a skilled marksman, loyal to our cause, and will follow orders when it is crucial, if at no other time. At any rate, he is certainly more tolerable than the flea-ridden feline."

"Great", she smirked, unable to help herself. "I'll make sure I tell him that tomorrow."

His cursing lit up the evening calm, though only she would truly understand.

* * *

6/18 Wednesday

After School

"So how was that?", Jiachi asked once they were out of the movie theatre's practiced darkness. "I know it's kinda old, but it did get remastered this year, and that level of acting's never goin' out of style. Beastwood's still the best in the business. Always will be."

"It was fine", Aiko said, not really dwelling much on the quality of the ancient cowboy film they'd just watched together. It had a lot of grizzled tough guys, wild horses, pretty women and loud gunfights over riches as well as the aforementioned women, and that was about all she'd understood of it. While initially it brought back bad memories of Jiachi's Land, eventually she had managed to focus and recognize some of the characters, particularly the one played by the eponymous 'Glint Beastwood' actor. "I liked the horsies. And the part when they played cards together and became friends"

"Never knowing that they were secretly undercover members of opposing gangs!", Julian gushed excitedly. "Never knowing that the next day, they'd all go out and kill each other for love and glory. Real men. So cool."

"Actors, though", she reminded him gently. "Don't get too Taurus on me please."

Offended enough to stop walking, letting her pull ahead, he gaped. "Oh, come on. Cheap shot. That guy's just a psycho who fights for fun. Taurus? More like 'Bore Us'. Not a real man at all. A real man fights for a purpose. Ever watch The Cake Knight Rises? It's kinda like that."

"Um." She stuttered.

"Oh? Guess we'll need to watch that one later too, yeah?"

"Is this okay?", she managed at last, surprising him. "I know all about your family. Does your dad know you're going out and watching American movies? With me?"

Julian raised his eyes to the sky as they passed back onto Tosashimizu city's main street. "Shitbiscuits. You just had to bring the mood down, huh? But it's alright. Really. My old man's not as harsh about that stuff as he used to be." Running his hands through his hair, he gave an awkward smile. "Guess we know why that is."

Aiko frowned. "You shouldn't take advantage of the fact that he cares for you though."

Jiachi shrugged, slowing down near a bus stop. "Who said I was? He just doesn't have the time to ride my ass about it any more. Not since they took me aside and 'told' me about Kibo."

Those words stopped her too, gaping at what he meant. "Kibo?"

"Yeah", he gave a more genuine smile. "Kibo. Japanese word for 'hope'. That's what they're calling him. The docs say he'll be born in about two more months, tops."

"That's wonderful!"

"Yeah", he looked to the sky in a rare moment of euphoria, remembering how the mere knowledge that he was going to have a baby brother soon had saved him from the lures of Faraway Lands and dispelled the grip of his Shadow. "It really is. I just hope I get to have a say in how he grows up; if my old man gets his way, that poor kid's gonna be nothin' but a mindless drone. I want him to know about _both_ sides of his heritage, like me."

"You can worry about that when he's older", Aiko assured him. "For now, just enjoy what you have. I've always wanted to have a younger brother or sister myself."

"Shame 'bout that", he agreed, coming back down to earth. "Sorano-chan told me about your mom. Guess she's got siblings to spare, right?"

"Eight brothers and sisters sounds like a bit much", she admitted. "Especially when you're the youngest one."

"No argument there." Drifting into a larger crowd now, the two fell silent for a stretch, anxious about talking about their 'special activities' no matter how unlikely it seemed that someone might hear and understand what they spoke of.

Once they were clear, Julian stared back over his shoulder. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

"Of Tokyo?" Certainly, the most crowded parts of Tosashimizu city resembled Tokyo at their most packed, though that landmark city was like the crowd and store density of Tosashimizu's main street spread out for dozens of kilometers in every direction. "I told you before, I prefer this place. Less crowds means less noise."

"Guess so", he shrugged. "But I still wanna see it some day. See if it's really as amazing as everyone says. Maybe we can go there for summer break?"

The idea halted her. "Well... I was planning to go back myself for the break. I guess there wouldn't be a problem with having company. Mira-chan's going back to her home country for the summer. I'll have to ask if Vitienne-kun is doing the same."

"And of course we'll have to bring the angry bird along", he grumped. "He'd never let you out of his sight that long."

"Be nice", she cautioned him, easily coming back to the previous days' experience. "It sounds harsh... but we're all he has."

That actually made him quiet for the rest of the trip to the narrow series of alleys she had first visited with Reiha. Seeing a familiar tall figure leaning against a set of boards opposite the door, she resisted the urge to criticize his lack of stealth acumen. "How long were you waiting?"

"Not long", Noel spoke in a hushed tone that suggested he'd been more cautious than she first assumed. "Father Shigetsu had no further need of me today, and I considered it wise to make sure the good doctor was actually in first. It would quite a waste for us to go to all this trouble getting together, and then find out he's out somewhere."

Still, she couldn't help but fret a little about Shigetsu. Burdened with the ability to sense the presence of Shadows after an encounter with one six years ago, his reaction on sensing Julian's own Shadow emerging into the real world had cost him his congregation, and left him alone, watching over a shrine he insisted was sacred ground, but without their help he sometimes struggled to merely feed himself.

"Who?", Julian prodded urgently. "Okay Tokyo girl, enough teasing at it already. Time for the real reason you wanted to drag me over here after the movie was over... and I assume you asked Vitienne to be here too?"

Nodding apologetically, Aiko studied them both for their reactions. "Dr. Spica. The one I mentioned to you before, who knows Hayato-senpai better than any of us. If anyone can figure out what it'll take to get her out of there, it's him."

"Does he know?", Noel asked thoughtfully after a moment. "Does he know what's happened to her?"

"I don't think so", Aiko considered. "He's a bit... odd. But I don't think he knows about the other world, and I don't plan on telling him unless we absolutely have to."

"Sounds like you're afraid of him", Julian sounded perturbed. "I guess a dude who lives in this part of town could be a bit off. What's the plan?"

For once, she didn't mind the attention as she spoke, outlining what she had imagined as the best way to make the man confess his secrets, or rather Reiha's secrets. When she was finished, the two boys' expressions had reversed; Noel looked horrified at what was to come, but also resolved to see it through, while Jiachi looked just as excited as he'd been coming out of the theater.

"I can see why you didn't want Sorano-chan along for this", Noel found his voice first. "She would have protested it."

"Probably", Aiko acknowledged, uncomfortable with the way he was staring at her.

"And how do you know I wouldn't?"

Forcing herself to match his gaze, she shook her head. "I didn't. And if you don't like it, you don't have to come with us. But we're doing this, with or without you. If we don't do it, Hayato-san says right where she is. She ends up like Furusato-san. Gone forever."

Noel's fists clenched white and he made a hiss of vexation. "Of course when you say it like that, really we have no choice, now do we? Alright. Let's get this over with."

* * *

Raharjo Mayaha Aspicaya never expected customers. Only visitors, and rare ones at that. They were usually bad news for him.

He couldn't be sure yet if the three visitors making their way into what he might hesitatingly call his 'lab' were that type or not. While he recognized the cute young face of Aiko Tsuruga, Reiha's friend and enlistee in his search for more samples from the seafloor to prove his theories about the contagion spreading through the waters of Tosashimizu, the look on that face didn't suggest tonight would be a friendly visit as before.

Nor did the look on the two young men with her.

"Hello, Tsuruga", he acknowledged her curtly. "Did you find any more samples?"

Looking thoughtful, she left the other two behind and approached the counter, studying the metal band around his neck so she didn't have to look him in the eye. "Maybe. It depends."

"Depends?", he chuckled in confusion. "Depends on what?"

"On what you're actually using them for."

Neither of the other two made a visible reaction to that, but it was felt all the same. Recovering, he studied her more closely, still maintaining the facade of an eccentric yet jolly man. "I'm afraid I don't understand. What do you mean?"

"She doesn't like it when people lie to her", one of the boys answered, a cinnamon-haired lad with an athletes' build and a dangerous look in his eye. "Me, though? I _hate_ when people lie to me."

Spica studied him carefully, trying to comprehend what he was hearing. That voice and poise was strangely contorted, rolling his syllables over-aggressively as if...

As if sensing what he was thinking, he leaned back for a moment, allowing a short length of lead pipe to slide down his sleeve into his hand. "It just makes me so damn mad that I can't help but look for a way to vent my frustration, yeah?"

The taller boy, a blond one, obviously foreign, spoke up then. "Hiragi, come on. There's no need for that now. He's a friend, yes?"

Eyes deceptively innocent, Tsuruga rapped the glass counter to call his attention back to her- or perhaps to just how many things in his lab were made of glass. "We need to know about Hayato-senpai", she emphasized heavily. "Assuming that she is _Hayato_ -senpai."

"About Tawa?", he pondered. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

Hiragi took the pipe, gently tapping it along the case holding some of his samples, the noise growing louder as he got closer. "Told ya. I hate liars. Keep that up, and I just don't know what might happen."

He turned back to Tsuruga accusingly. " _These_ people are your friends?"

"I know", she noted apologetically. "Hiragi-san has a bad temper sometimes. But we need to know the truth, doctor. No matter what it takes."

"Hiragi", the other boy warned, clearly dreading the likely outcome. "I don't like that look in your eye."

"Shut the fuck up, Akiyama", Hiragi scowled furiously. "This is _my_ business. Can't have liars and thieves messing up our neighborhood, can we now? Otherwise we'll end up like Shinjuku."

Akiyama turned to Spica with pleading eyes. "Please, doctor. Just tell us the truth. I don't know what he'll do if you don't."

Spica had a fairly good idea of what would happen if he didn't... but the alternative was still too much to consider. He could replace glass. He couldn't replace his own life.

"I'm sorry, I still don't know what-"

Just as expected, the next step up in the threat level was actually smashing the pipe into the case, shards of glass covering the flora within. "Oops", Hiragi remarked.

Having had enough, Spica rose from his seat. "I'm calling the police."

But Tsuruga held his gaze tight, refusing to let go. "No you're not. You'd never bring the police in here. That would risk letting them see the things you've got in the back room. Are you grinding up those samples I got for you, doctor? Making powders?"

Hiragi had now turned to the aquarium in the center of the room. "Pretty", he said of the fish darting through its core. "Shame if something happened to it."

"Please!", Akiyama begged, almost in tears at this point. "Please, enough. I'll pay you for the case. Please..."

Hiragi had the pipe within inches of the glass, but suddenly stopped. He smashed a few more of the cases instead, including the ones holding regional maps before ripping them too.

And Dr. Spica realized that he still hadn't moved from his spot, hadn't delivered on his own threat. Hiragi caught that look in his eye too, and walked up to him, raising his weapon, ready to bring it down-

"Stop!", he shouted, blunt force trauma inches away from his skull, his hands raised in surrender. "Alright, alright. Enough! Just... let me lock the door first." _Like I should have in the first place._

Amazingly, the Tsuruga girl didn't flinch. She merely reached down to touch a tiny ruby shard, as if imploring it for luck. "You can tell Akiyama-kun how to lock the door for you."

Tsuruga, he was beginning to realize, was a great deal more cunning than he'd originally thought of someone who didn't have the slightest idea of how ecology worked.

"T-the deadbolt", he muttered. "There's a chain along the top of the door. Slide it in and turn the winch. Then move the bar in the middle out and pull the slider."

When all that was done, Hiragi still looked menacing. "Should we take off your shirt? See what kinda tattoos you've got on your back?"

"That won't be necessary", he grunted resentfully. "It's obvious that you already know. Just as it's obvious that you're no Yakuza, 'Hiragi'."

Carelessly dropping the pipe, he shrugged, all his earlier hostility bleeding away in mere seconds. "Maybe to _you_ it's obvious. I thought it was pretty good myself."

"Close", he admitted. "But like most people, you learned everything you know about them from movies and television. Not from personal experience."

"Unlike you", Aiko piped up, sounding ashamed at the trick she'd helped pull off but equally determined not to let go of what they'd earned. "Maybe we should go into the back room, to be safe."

Looking from one of his unwanted guests to the other and back, Spica nodded carefully. "That would be best, yes."

"And I _will_ pay you to replace the glass", Akiyama promised him, bowing in contrition and dropping any effort to mask his accent. "Please forgive us, _herr doktor._ We had no one else who could help us with this predicament, and we knew that you would not confess the truth willingly."

Grimacing, he said nothing back until they were all safely in the back room with the large table. The map had many more spots than before indicating signs of contamination, but they ignored it for now, Hiragi leaning on it while Akiyama and Tsuruga took up chairs.

"Please don't touch that", he pleaded when he saw Hiragi reaching over towards a locker on the opposite table.

"Why?", he scoffed. "Is that where you keep your powders?"

"No." Seeing he wouldn't be satisfied with that answer, Spica sighed. "If you really must know, it's where I keep my failures. The Sudoku puzzles I haven't been able to complete, so I don't have to look at them."

On the verge of laughing, he hauled himself back into character but couldn't stop himself from asking further. "You could just throw them out."

"Never", the doctor vowed. "I plan to solve them all eventually. Throwing them out would be admitting defeat."

Amazed at how nervous he sounded considering that Hiragi was merely playacting as a true Yakuza _gokudo_ , Spica considered how to approach the subject that had dominated much of his life. "Now. Firstly, my goal is true", he emphasized to Tsuruga. "I really do wish to determine the cause of this malady, and how we can stop it. I _don't_ grind up my samples, at least not to make _those_ kinds of powders."

"But you _were_ a criminal for some time", Aiko reminded him firmly. "Does Hayato-san know about that?"

His face grew dire, the painful old secrets he'd kept for so long rising to its surface. "Yes. She does. That is how we met, and how I have been able to help her, to keep her safe. My old job in the syndicate wasn't violence, or producing drugs... It was forging identifications."

Even that admission felt like an irreversible line crossed, its presence hanging over the room like a dark shroud, and he drew himself up to his full height to make his stance clear. "Tell the police any word of this", he continued sternly, "and Tawa is doomed, along with me. That's not a threat, do you understand? It's a simple fact. The syndicate doesn't have much of a presence out here yet, but if they found out the truth, Enmikaeda would send whoever he had to in order to silence the both of us. And most likely you as well, for knowing too much."

"We'll see", Tsuruga said, strangely unperturbed.

Unable to stop himself, Spica let out a low chortle at the supposedly dangerous 'Hiragi'. "You see, that's the other thing that tipped me off that you weren't the real deal. Tsuruga is doing all the talking for you here. You're clearly waiting on her order. _No one_ in the Dragon syndicate, from the most honored of the heavenly kings to the lowest-ranking street sweeper, would ever take orders from a female. To them, young women are only pawns and tools to make money, nothing more."

"They haven't met our Tokyo girl", Hiragi argued, looking embarrassed at his appraisal regardless. "Still, you're right about that. I know just how dangerous those guys are. Movies and television taught me that much."

"You did manage to pull off a passable impression of them", he admitted, amazed at how cordial he was being to someone who had willingly damaged his property and threatened his person, even if it had been an act. "I could feel the anger, the urge to violence rolling off of you. Just like the usual crop of ill-tempered young men they usually hire on as their 'debt collectors'. That ire can't be faked, not completely."

"Reiha Hayato", Aiko hammered the name down, driving them back to the subject. "Who is she, really?"

Spica took a deep breath, knowing this confession would be even more difficult than his last. It was a secret he'd shared with no one before now, not daring to even _think_ it. He'd even invented a fake nickname to conceal the truth, and safeguard their lives.

"As I said", he whispered in defeat. "I am myself a skilled forger of false identities, even today. Reiha Hayato... is not Reiha Hayato. She's actually nineteen years old, not seventeen as the birth certificate I created for her says. And her true name, her birth name... is Ruri Kaneshiro."

* * *

The city's colossal architecture spanned the skyline, offering a myriad of perfect vantage points for her to perch from and survey the majority of the sprawl.

And that, Hex considered, was the problem slowing her movements now, making her feel listless unless she kept moving around.

It was perfect. _Too_ perfect. This entire city felt designed, planned out like some video game environment. She hadn't noticed until Aiko and the others had come, and tried to explain to her its true nature. She hadn't been listening. She hadn't _wanted_ to listen...

Too much. Not something this city's protector should have been bothering with. That was another thing about this place; when it was quiet, that peace inevitably felt like a calm before the storm. Any time she felt like maybe she could rest a while, another incident would pop up. Joker would be sighted somewhere hatching one of his vile schemes, or other criminals would try and infiltrate buildings containing innocent citizens.

And every time she caught up to Joker, that most vile of criminal masterminds, he inevitably escaped somehow. Until that wretch and the other Phantom Thieves were finally caught, no one here could breathe easy.

She figured this strange quiet had more to do with the reconstruction efforts than any deliberate pause by the criminal element. So many buildings had been destroyed by the criminal brawls recently that numerous cranes had been brought out to begin piecing everything back together, operated by strong police officers in case of an attack, unused materials on wood pallets lining the outskirts. The entire area had been blocked off, though no civilian would risk exiting their homes anyway.

Of course, police had never been able to stop Joker and the other rogues before, even under the supervision of zeppelin search lights... and another light beaming through the dark sky, one shaped like a pentagram. _Need to stay mobile. Time to move, check in with the commissioner to make sure everything's okay._

Following the recent raid on city hall, the police had transitioned their base of operations to a different, smaller building. As ever, the commissioner was waiting next to the enormous halogen light creating its unmissable signal.

"Everything proceeding as planned?", Hex asked, emerging from the Shadows but not surprising her- they'd been through this routine too many times to count.

"As well as can be expected", the older-looking, black-dressed woman responded smoothly, trying her best not to let anyone see how the current situation distressed her. "It seems that this level of destruction is enough to scare away even criminals. Or perhaps they're just waiting for us to drop our guard."

"I thought the same", Hex agreed, precise words not muffled by her mask. "I'm sorry."

The commissioner's eyebrow raised. "Sorry? For what?"

A black glove gestured to the demolished masonry. "For this. I can't help feeling if I hadn't aided Aiko Tsuruga, this wouldn't have happened."

The woman's yellow eyes narrowed. "That was a grave mistake, certainly... but it wasn't Tsuruga or her friends who rained down this destruction on our home. It was Joker, and the new criminal called Prince Taurus. Their fighting caused the deaths here."

"Joker...", Hex snarled, fists clenching. "I should have brought him and his minions to justice long ago. And Taurus is no better. He cares nothing for the people he hurts."

"But you tried to catch him", the commissioner reminded her earnestly. "He was the one who retreated from you. If he comes back, we'll get him. Just like we'll get Joker some day."

"Some day", she promised tersely. "But Taurus was strong. Stronger than me."

Far from offended by her worries, the commissioner moved to shut the light down. "Then you shouldn't fight him alone. Him, or any of those rogues."

Not understanding, Hex stared back. "What? You? But-"

"No, no", she chuckled politely. "Much as I'd like to, I'm too much of a target. Behind you."

Spinning around, Reiha saw a healthy orange flame burst to life behind them. A second one followed, igniting next to it. Four other identical flames followed after, creating a loose pattern of fire that illuminated the main body. Even though it wore black robes and floated off the ground like a ghost, she could hardly believe such a large, imposing figure could have remained hidden from her for so long.

A dark gray skull-shape mask clung to the new arrival's face, a pair of tiny glowing yellow stars serving as eyes within the empty sockets. Behind it lay more formless layers of darkness, a large ring protruding out from the back and serving to hold the creature's six torches in place, yet occasionally moving like a wheel, leaving brief trails of fire behind it.

"Scary-looking", she joked for a moment before returning her focus to the mission. "Is that another intruder?"

The robed wraith said nothing, searing pinpricks of eyes merely looking to the commissioner for guidance.

"He _was_ ", she explained. "Another former criminal. But he's changed his ways, and eager to fight for justice now. He'll accompany you, and help you to take down Joker along with any other criminals who try to threaten this city."

Momentarily overcome with the realization- or perhaps other things- she glanced back at the new enforcer, not wanting to seem ungrateful for such a gift. "He looks kind of bulky. I have to move fast to get where I need to go in time."

But it was the flame-bearing wraith who responded to her quibble, floating up into the sky above them before regarding them with a fierce gaze behind its motionless mask.

"...Never mind. Thank you. I'm sure he'll be useful."

"He'll obey your every command", the commissioner promised. "And he's definitely strong enough to take down the intruders."

The way she said the last word reminded Reiha of the internal troubles which had brought her here, and she was grateful that the mask concealed the doubt creeping onto her face. Though it augmented it with a masculine growl, it couldn't seep the doubt out of her voice.

"Intruders, right... But not all of them are bad."

The other woman's acrid yellow eyes widened, just as taken aback by that declaration as expected. "You're talking about Tsuruga and her allies, aren't you? But even if they didn't directly cause this damage, they were still responsible for the raid on city hall. They are still criminals."

Suddenly she couldn't move. Couldn't think straight. Two impulses rose within her, each fighting to cancel the other out, until she thought her helmet might burst apart, the pain driving her down to her knees.

"N-no...", she whispered, chains of realizations bombarding her only to be quenched by denials. "No. That's wrong. They weren't there to do damage. They were there to rescue Tsuruga."

"Yet they did do damage", the commissioner's burning gaze held no mercy in it at all. "They destroyed several floors making their getaway, and killed many fine officers of the law trying to stop them. Even if they didn't intend it, they caused serious harm. They don't belong here. They are criminals, and if they return here, they must face justice the same as Joker."

Paralyzed, brain aching from clashing thoughts, she came within inches of hitting the woman without even knowing why.

It felt like falling.

 _Yes, she's right. They don't belong here._

 _But they were trying to save me. They want me to return._

 _Who cares what they think? It's my life!_

 _Your life to throw away? They care about you!_

 _And I care about justice._

 _You aren't-_

But the other woman had managed to detect the internal war, moving over and placing a gentle gloved hand over her armored shoulder, looking down at their city's champion.

"I understand", she observed sympathetically. "She's your friend from the other world. And the willpower in her- in all of them- is admirable. But _they shouldn't be here_. They should remain in their world. Here, they're merely obstacles to our justice."

"Y-yes", Reiha whispered, extremely grateful to have a new voice here to settle the argument that was tearing her apart. "Yes. That's right. They shouldn't have been here to start with. They were just worried about me, that's all. They don't get that I've never been happier."

"That's right", her guide echoed, the conviction in her voice mesmerizing, impossible to deny as she helped the masked vigilante back to her feet. "They don't truly understand you. They don't understand that you could no longer live in a world without any justice in it."

"Justice", she hiccuped, shame at her vulnerable state creeping into her poise even as she tried to stand. "Is what we do really...?"

But it was all right. Everything was alright. It was fine to be vulnerable here, to confess her momentary weaknesses. The commissioner always knew, always understood. Her next words sounded harsh, but even as she spoke Reiha felt her heart accepting them as truth.

"What we do is protect this city from criminals who would tear it apart. We can't do that in the other world- the rot is too deep there. Justice in the world of humans has been abolished. It can't be saved from corruption. But this city remains a bastion free of that, so long as you continue your crusade. It's... yours."

Yes. She was right. She was always right. She could even hear the innocent people calling, crying out for a savior. "Yes. Yes... it's _mine_. Mine to protect."

"And yours to name", the older woman remarked. "You haven't given it one yet, have you?"

"...No." No, of course she hadn't done that yet. Because she hadn't yet accepted it as hers. Hers to guard, hers to enact justice for. A place where that was possible, that hadn't been lost to corruption.

 _Until now._

Standing, she studied the ring behind their new ally closely, considering and connecting for what felt like the first time just how many silver ring shapes, both subtle and overt, were positioned throughout the city. Her city.

 _Rings. Just like... like him. Like Dr. Spica. Like his lab._

The city's array of lights, of blacks and whites flickered at her, as if waiting for an answer, eager to be christened.

"Shirubashiti", she proclaimed from the rooftop. "This city's name will be Shirubashiti."

The torch-bearing wraith made no reaction at the name, but the commissioner nodded approvingly. "Hm. Appropriate."

"I thought so." The name helped her stand taller. It gave concrete foundation to what she'd sworn to protect. _Goodbye, Tosashimizu. Hello, Shirubashiti._

She wasn't fool enough to think there wasn't anything back in Tosashimizu she wouldn't miss. Spica. Tsuruga. The feel of the sun's rays on her skin...

 _Goodbye, sun._

Once again the commissioner seemed to have sensed her thoughts. Or more importantly, her lingering reservations. "Shirubashiti... a silver city of eternal night may be the only place where true justice can hold sway. Only when every criminal here has been dealt with can the sun shine through."

"Hail horrors", she joked back, confidence growing. "Hail, infernal world." Certainly, she knew that many of the police here were not human. They were other beings, utterly alien to the world she knew, some of them even resembling various mythical creatures of folklore.

But as surprising as it seemed, she wasn't bothered by it. If anything, it seemed only fitting that _her_ city would also be home to the myriad creatures of the night. _But only the ones who play nice. The ones who cause any trouble will answer to me._

 _And to him,_ she recognized, glancing back at her new companion. Another fearsome creature that looked to have origins from some classic Victorian horror story with its gruesome opera mask and intimidating eyes even glowing brighter than the cores of his torches, the rest of him shrouded in formless darkness.

"I'll be leaving this city for a while", the commissioner remarked, trying to sound casual. "I have business elsewhere. But I know I'll be leaving it in good hands now. Protect it. Punish any criminals who threaten it. Even that Prince Taurus. Even Aiko Tsuruga."

"Even..." Hesitation, a pause... and then she clamped down, resolve as heavy as the collar of her helmet or the ring on her new companion's back. "...Yes. Even Tsuruga and her friends. We'll chase them away. They're not made for a place like this."

"I knew I could count on you", the other woman nodded, signaling to the floating wraith as well. "Remember. You are Hex. You are our watchful protector. Our guardian of justice."

"Yes." Her eyes closed behind the mask, wondering if this was when she would finally wake up. "Yes. I am. And so are you."

 _This is my dream._

 _This is my_ **destiny.**

* * *

Persona Profile #13: Zorro

Arcana: Magician

Strength: Wind

Weakness: Lightning

Abilities: Garudyne, Magarudyne, Salvation, Diarahan, Samarecarm, Miracle Punch, Masukunda, Wind Amp

Background: A masked swordsman of justice who fought in California against corrupt officials during the era of Spanish rule. He always left his "Z" mark with his rapier wherever he appeared.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to AllFatherFord EnPassant4264 for the reviews. I hope you enjoy the rest of it.

To answer Ford's earlier question, Akira didn't call Satanael in his battle against Prince Taurus/Ryuken Samesaji for two reasons:

1- As he noted several times, he's badly out of practice after living a normal life for six years, so he didn't want to go for his strongest Persona right away and risk overtaxing himself, hence why he started out with Arsene and gradually upgraded his arsenal to Lucifer and Metatron as the fight went on.

2- He was worried Satanael's chaotic power could potentially destroy Reiha's entire Land as collateral damage, killing his allies by accident (as seen in a certain other story recently...). He didn't even want to kill Ryuken if he could help it, as he _is_ still a human, just a very twisted, bloodthirsty human.

Because EnPassant was interested in who is which Arcana, I will provide a refresher for the ones I have revealed so far:

0 Fool – Igor (Master of the Velvet Room)

I Magician- Bartholomew Roberts (One-Eyed Attendant)

II Priestess- Mirambela Sorano (Dancer)

V Hierophant- Father Shigetsu (Deacon of the Unnamed Shrine)

VII Chariot- Nanseki Umaeda (Aging Swordmaster)

VIII Strength- Pelagio (Guardian)

X Fortune- Raharjo Mayaha Aspicaya (Shady Scientist)

XII Hanged Man- Julian/Jiachi Rosea (Gunslinger)

XIII Death- Noel Vitienne (Mender)

XIV Temperence- Ideka Ishinagi (Guidance Counselor)

XV Devil- Benihime Kujou (Head of the Student Disciplinary Council)

XVI Tower- Shukiji Niyoga (Information Merchant)

XVIII Moon- Kotone Samesaji (Shy Girl)

XIX Sun- Kogaya Tsuruga (Distant Mother)

XX Judgement- Tongwa Byzael (Jolly Fisherman)

I suppose after this chapter it's easy to guess who the Justice Arcana is going to be, right? And next time, you'll learn her full story.


	43. Reach Out To The Truth

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _From The Other Side Of Fortune_

 _A Negative Rainbow_

 _There's Not One Color Of You_

 _That I Don't Value_

* * *

6/18 Wednesday

Evening

"Kaneshiro", Julian slowly repeated the name as if testing the room's acoustics. "As in Junya Kaneshiro. We've heard it before. He was that Yakuza guy who the Phantom Thieves targeted, yeah? Changed his heart?"

"That's correct", Dr. Spica said sorrowfully, his hideous palm tree shirt folding and his head sliding down towards the table as he remembered old times.

"It's been almost six years to the day now... back then, Junya was the rising star of the syndicate. He invented new ways of extorting money from the younger crowd in Shibuya that put the old techniques to shame. Far more troubling was the way that higher-ranking brothers who stood in the way of his ascendancy occasionally had strange mental breakdowns that led to their dismissal."

Moving back across the room closer to his 'Sudoku failure' locker, he regarded them with dire eyes, trying once more to bring across just how dangerous the world they were skirting the edge of really was. "And of course by dismissal, I mean execution. The syndicate doesn't leave traces."

Careful not to reveal too much about their connections with the Phantom Thieves, Aiko stared back at him, unflinching. "Yes. We heard about him. For a long time, no one in Shibuya even knew his name. But... I suppose that even fewer people knew that he had a wife and daughter?"

"Very few", Spica concurred. "His marriage was also kept secret, when it was made to the daughter of a rival clan's patriarch, Mr. Azuto, in order to merge them with the greater syndicate." Stepping down, he made a revolted face. "I have no doubt that he viewed her as worthless outside of his bedchamber, and he was certainly not one to show fidelity to a single woman, no matter how powerful her father might have been. Perhaps he might have eventually desired a male heir to his fortune and power, but in that he was disappointed."

Aiko shivered. Even now, with all that she'd witnessed recently, it was still difficult for her to completely comprehend that kind of mentality, that this Kaneshiro would neglect his wife and daughter to pursue money. Not for his family, but for himself.

"Had that been the end of it", the doctor continued gravely, "then young Ruri Kaneshiro might have continued to enjoy a happy life. While Junya himself never provided them with any money, Azuto-san was both protective and discreet, often visiting their house to ensure that Kaneshiro never mistreated them."

"But then something happened", Julian sounded parched, knowing already just how this story would end. "The Phantom Thieves happened."

Spica blinked, momentarily considering the age of his audience, and how old they would have been during that tumultuous time. "Whether those 'Phantom Thieves' were ever real, or merely a collective false identity taken on by various groups of people seeking payback on the corrupt figures who tormented them", he murmured with one hand pressed into the dark stubble on his chin, "what can't be denied is that around the start of July, someone did _something_ to Kaneshiro that completely changed him. Before any of his people could stop him, he turned himself in to police custody, willingly confessing all of his crimes."

Ai studied one of the silver rings tapered to the interior wall of the man's lab, remembering all she'd learned of that particular case from Akira and Makoto's perspectives. Junya Kaneshiro had been a true fiend, a gluttonous mobster with a boundless appetite for money who extorted mercilessly from juveniles and adults alike.

Even the Phantom Thieves had been swept up in one of his schemes, blackmailed into an impossible debt of 3 million yen. Stealing the Treasure from his vast Palace and changing his heart had been just as much self-defense for them as an act of justice.

 _However..._

"That very same day", Spica continued in a low voice like broken glass, "the Syndicate sent their professionals to the Kaneshiro residence in Shibuya. The 'sworn brothers' of the Dragon vow oaths when they join never to speak of clan activities to any legal authority figure... but the countermeasures for those foolish few who dare violate their oaths are swift and lethal. No leaks, no traces can be tolerated."

Having been silent for long enough for the others to forget he was there, Noel gasped in horror. "No... you can't mean to say that...!"

"They didn't kill Azusa-san", the doctor sighed depressedly. "They merely ensured that she would never be able to speak to anyone of their activities. You see, she was younger than Junya. Still young and beautiful enough to be of... use."

"I... I don't understand", Aiko wondered, her eyes hurt and confused and scared all at once. "How?"

Spica regarded her wearily, still not quite able to square how young they all were to the decently convincing plan they'd worked out to make him confess the truth about his former job. He planned out his next words accordingly.

"Are you absolutely _sure_ that you want to know about this? It's not something that I feel completely comfortable telling high schoolers about, even if it wasn't dangerous to you."

"No need for that", Jiachi cut in, his sharp-eyed gaze severe but unyielding. "I don't just watch cowboy movies, y'know. I also watch Yakuza films." Seeing Spica's mouth begin to open in utter contempt for such movies, he held up a hand to stop him. "And yeah, I _know_ they prolly don't get everything right compared to the reality. It's like you said, finding someone in the syndicate willing to share anything with the cops ain't easy... But we've learned enough through the years to know what they do with the pretty girls they lure in."

"There... are a number of powerful drugs which do the job, with various names and nicknames across cultures", Spica admitted quietly, already sensing a growing hostility from them just for his discarded association with the people responsible for such atrocities.

"After repeated forced doses of the drug, the victims become too addicted to break free. To even _think_ about breaking free. Getting their next fix- the threat of losing it and facing withdrawal- means that they will do absolutely anything they are told to by their 'handlers'."

" _Sheisse_ ", Noel grunted from the corner, sounding more vocally angry than his friends had ever known him. "Barbaric. Simply barbaric!"

"Yes", the doctor agreed, his voice reduced to a strained whisper, old memories and things he'd seen in his time in Tokyo creeping back in. "Even some of the sworn brothers have objected to that method from time to time. Yet it's so damnably profitable that no movement to stop it ever got off the ground. It's become one of the syndicate's most ingrained traditions, and ripping it out may be beyond the strength of even the most honored members."

"What about Reiha?", Aiko pleaded, trying her best not to let the details of the syndicate's operations curdle her stomach completely. "Please tell me they didn't do the same thing to her!"

Spica remained shattered by the memories, staring at nothing. "They almost did... but she managed to hide from them in the house. After that, I knew we both had to get as far away from the syndicate's influence as we could."

"We?", Aiko asked before freezing up, her stare intensifying on Spica. "You. It was _you_. You saved her, didn't you? There was no possible way she could've gotten from Tokyo all the way to Tosashimizu by herself."

Looking reluctant to accept any credit, he nodded slowly. "Not without being caught. Before long, my 'sworn brothers' were searching all of Tokyo for Kaneshiro's daughter, as well as the low-ranking identity forger who had disappeared from under their noses the same day."

"So that's what you're doing here", Julian observed, equally absorbed in trying to process the horror that Reiha must have gone through. "Hiding. Don't worry, doc; we won't tell a single soul about this."

"I would hope not", he warned them with a stern finger. "Doing that would put you on their list of 'leaks' as well. I know Mr. Enmikaeda. He's Junya's current replacement in Shibuya. He's very young for his position. Not quite as brazen, greedy or arrogant as Kaneshiro was in his day either... but he can break you all the same, and whisk you off where no one will ever find your body. Just having this information I've shared puts you all at risk."

 _Not the first time someone wanted us silenced for knowing too much,_ the thought occurred to Aiko but she dared not voice it for fear of scaring Spica even more. "I thought the Phantom Thieves might have scared them out of doing any more business in Shibuya."

The doctor laughed in forced politeness. "The clans are older than the _concept of democracy in Japa_ n, you silly girl. Their membership in Tokyo alone is five digits or possibly more. They formed their secret pacts and ranks and and traditions back when this country was ruled by a dynasty of Emperors, and even they couldn't destroy the clans. The Phantom Thieves, whoever they may be, could strike down a _hundred_ sworn brothers and still not stop them permanently."

"He's right, sorry to say", Julian frowned. "They've stayed in business for centuries by keeping their secrets real close to the chest, and making any leaks 'disappear'. Their street level dudes are kinda obvious when they're doin' stuff, but the truth is, nobody outside of their organization really knows who the 'heavenly kings', the highest ranks of the Dragon, really are. Or if that's really the title they use any more at all."

Noel shivered in fear. "So, Hayato-senpai never saw her mother again after that. No wonder she despises criminals so much."

"The Phantom Thieves", Aiko clarified hurriedly, rolling one eye towards him to remind him that they couldn't afford to share too much Dream Voyager-related information with this man. "In a way, they're responsible for destroying her old life. Her family."

"In a way", Spica agreed softly over the table. "However, it's also true that Junya was destroying the lives of many others her age in ways nearly as brutal. If someone had the power to stop him doing that, then I don't blame them for using it the way they did. That poor girl and what happened to her mother was merely the fallout."

"What happened to Azusa?", Noel asked, earning a pained grimace from Julian. "You were once a 'sworn brother', yes? Did you ever try to locate her?"

Spica shook his head miserably. "No. I didn't. Maybe I'm a coward. But even now, even with my new identity firmly established, it's far too dangerous for me to ever return to Tokyo, or even to the mainland at all. I would imagine she's in the back rooms of some parlor in Shinjuku, entertaining 'customers'."

"And Kaneshiro's still locked up in a maximum security prison", Jiachi provided grimly. "Not to stop him from getting out- I heard he's actually getting a reduced sentence for good behavior, if you can believe that- but to stop a 'sworn brother' from silencing him."

"Precisely", the portly doctor said, impressed for once by their knowledge. "For our first few years together, setting up my lab in this out of the way town, my only real goal was to keep his daughter safe growing up. To keep us _both_ safe, by any method I could manage." His eyes drooped shut. "I might have saved her... But she saved me first. She made me realize just what my current employers really were."

"It took you long enough", Noel said, his icy blue eyes accusing. Reformed or not, none of them would ever forget that Spica had once been a 'sworn brother' of the Dragon. "Still, I suppose you would never have been able to save her if you hadn't been a part of the organization to begin with. Providence."

"Providence?" He chuckled darkly. "Really? I'd call it dumb luck. Luck that I was already working under Azuto-san, and luck that I was already acquainted with his daughter and his brash son-in-law, and heard the news in time to act to save their child."

Respect tinged Aiko's gaze now, where there had only been resentment and anger before. "You were the only one there who would have risked yourself. And because of you, Hayato-senpai is alive."

"Yes", he grunted, studying the table map listlessly. "Yet, there was so much in her that I couldn't help her with. The pain of losing her mother, her home, forever. For a long time, she wanted to go try to find Azusa-san, but I turned her down every time. I just... I only wanted her to have something close to a normal life."

Whether it was caused by the tragedy that had brought her to Tosashimizu or something in her blood, Aiko knew that Reiha's life was hardly normal. By her own choice.

 _And here I was feeling empty over_ my _parents._

Recovering when she saw Spica move towards her, she regarded him fondly. "It sounds like you've done more for Hayato-senpai than her real father ever did."

The doctor flinched at that. "Haven't you been listening? Her name isn't Hayato. That's just a false identity that I created for her."

"I know", she nodded. "But that's a secret we've sworn to keep, and using her real name, even in private, might lead to us slipping up some day. To us, she's still Hayato-senpai."

 _After all, we have enough trouble keeping our own code names straight sometimes._

"That would be wise", he agreed. "Not everyone knows the name Kaneshiro, but it's certainly well-known enough, mainly due to his connections with the Phantom Thieves phenomenon."

"We'll be careful", Noel promised with a focus on Julian that he acknowledged with a quiet grunt. "If any of us made a mistake, even once, we could all be in danger."

"Yes", Spica emphasized, trying to give all three of them one final warning with the stress in his gaze at the mentioning of his old employers. "Films, television and even video games inevitably glorify the clans because the real thing would be unsuitable for any save adult audiences. The truth is, while we- _they_ \- have partaken in humanitarian projects such as lending aid during disasters, most of the time it's just as impersonal and cold as any other Tokyo business. A business where the employees have to commit crimes against the law and against humanity as a part of their job. And where dismissal by your manager leads to dishonorable death."

"I know", Julian assured him, unflinching at his gaze. "Some dudes I know at school still fantasize about joining up with 'em and becoming a 'sworn brother' when they're old enough. So that they can feel 'tough' and have power over other people. But they don't really get what it does to you, yeah? Guess that's why my Yakuza impression sucked. Sorry."

Laughing lightly- able to be now that they were past the worst of his story- Spica regarded him kindly, almost back to his normal jolly self. "Oh, you weren't that bad, my boy. I think that a normal citizen would've been completely fooled. Your real problem was that you used such an outdated method of interrogation on me; good boy...", He pointed to each of the indicated parties. "...and bad boy."

"Oh. Oh, I see", Noel joked back, just as glad to have the worst part of Spica's story out of the way so that he could smile again. "I'm 'good boy' now, am I? I suppose I can act the part as needed."

"Notice how Rosea-kun didn't argue at all about being a 'bad boy'?", Aiko teased before noticing a surprised look on the doctor's face. "Oh. Oh, that's right. His name's not really Hiragi, it's-"

Spica frantically held a hand up to stop her. "No! Please don't tell me. That's one less bit of information for me to spill if they ever find me. I know what you mean- you had these two take on false names in case I turned out to be hostile. Good thinking there... but it wouldn't have saved you."

The realization made her sag. _Damn. Again. Even when I try not to, I still end up putting my own life in danger to shield them. It's habit by now. One I've got to break._

"I should have stayed outside", she amended regretfully. "Let them do it without me."

He sighed. "Maybe. But that would have made me much less willing to give in, likely resulting in a great deal more damage to my lab. So I suppose I should thank you for that at least. Just promise me that you won't abandon Tawa now that you've learned the truth."

"Abandon her?" She looked confused. "What, you seriously think we'd just run away from Hayato-senpai now that we know about her real past?"

"Some people might", he objected, rapping the table so she might understand the impact of the choice they were making today. "And really, who could blame them for wanting to stay out of danger? But no matter what she may say otherwise, she _needs_ people like you all. People who can support her, who can be her friends. Even in just the last week, she's been... distant. I don't think it's just me."

"We won't abandon her", Aiko vowed, Spica's last two sentences not quite hitting her for a moment yet. "Nothing we learned today changes... wait. Last week? You saw her last week?"

Spica's brow furrowed. "Why, yes. She's growing up, but I still prefer to stay updated with her every few days, just in case she needs anything."

 _Oh no..._ A glance from Jiachi reflected the alarm that must have been on her own face as well. "Just like before", he said, knowing he couldn't say much else in front of the doctor.

"We need to go", she announced. "It's getting late."

 _Hopefully, not_ too _late._

* * *

A rapping on the door roused Benihime Kujou from sleep.

She cursed it as she had come to curse most things outside of sleep these days. They inevitably reminded her of her current situation.

 _No longer on the committee. No longer holding any power at all. No longer with Tatsu-kun._

No longer going to Koashimizu academy at all, soon enough.

But the knock was insistent, continuing while she rose up off the bed, grumbling as she made her way to the door. "Yes, _what_?!"

"It's me, Ku-chan. It's Hayato."

She froze. The voice was muffled by the door, but unmistakable. _Hayato..._

Hayato, who had paid only lip service to the SDC's grander goals- former goals. Hayato, who had done nothing in the last two years but undermine her, whose lack of enthusiasm for her company could be _felt_ as a taste in the air, because the opposite had been such a comforting presence. Hayato, who had betrayed her.

But... it was also Hayato who had voted against her removal from the committee. The _only_ one, beside herself.

She still didn't reach for the door knob. Not until after Hayato's voice returned.

"I saw what happened. I thought maybe you could use someone to talk to."

"Not to a _traitor_ ", she rasped into the door before immediately reconsidering. _No. She doesn't deserve that. This isn't her fault. She's always been there. She supported me. The only one who did. This is all Tsuruga's fault._

She couldn't even look Aiko Tsuruga's direction at school any more. Thankfully they didn't share the same classes, but when the risk came of them encountering each other in the hallways, she went the other way. The shaking anger, the hate for the person who had taken everything important away from her and acting like everything was _normal_ felt like it was its own separate being sometimes. It was too much to stand, not without some way of venting it that wouldn't get her expelled... or arrested.

There had been chances for the more subtle forms of revenge, of course. But even that had ended in failure when she discovered that trying to deface Tsuruga's locker or sabotage her fencing club practices or anything like that wasn't so easy when she was acting alone.

It inevitably led to her earlier trembling escalating into paralysis. The time she'd spent agonizing over the reason for it was just more time she'd vowed to one day take out on Aiko Tsuruga. _Some day... some day, you'll pay. For everything._

But Hayato, now... she'd used the old name. The name they'd used back when they were together. When they were friends. Sometimes, more than friends.

 _What do I have left to lose?_

She reached for the door.

Beyond it, Reiha Hayato stood, dressed up like she'd stepped through a time warp from years prior and looking for all the world like she was ready to act the part as well. She still wore the long leather gloves, her face the shade of ghostly pale only possible with enhancers accentuating black eye shadow and lips. Her hair looked a bit more organized than usual, pulled into a lustrous coif, but aside from that it was exactly the same. She even managed to make the standard green and white student uniform look like so much more.

Hayato made sure to close the door behind her before speaking. "I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them."

But Kujou was beyond words then. Her usual practiced sneer at all who were beneath her could no longer be maintained. She needed someone now. Anyone. And as luck would have it, that anyone was a friend. A true friend.

"I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, Hayato-san", she took her by the arm, further into the dorm out of some strange fear she might vanish from sight. "It's Tsuruga. _She's_ the one who turned that committee of cowards against me. Even... Tatsu-kun."

It was amazing really, just how much that loss still hurt. She felt so tired. Tired of experiencing losses. Tired of trying to stay strong through it all. _Daddy..._

Fortunately, this was one person she didn't completely mind seeing a brief moment of weakness. Not if she had somehow reverted to being the friend from three years ago, instead of the sulky, unruly child she became.

For the first time she could remember, she sniffed, holding her head in her hands. "They all turned on me. Everyone. They're all cowards. All of them! I hate them!"

For the space of a breath, a strange, undefinable look flickered across Hayato's face before sliding back to a more relaxed, welcoming expression. "Everyone except me, Ku-chan."

Joy. Faint and coppery, but it felt like water after a journey through a desert. _Yes. That's right. Hayato... Maybe I was wrong about her all along._

Maybe Hayato's lack of enthusiasm for her duties over the last two years had been merely imagination. _Or, perhaps..._

"I didn't want to distract you", Hayato added, as if reading her mind. "You had your duties, your goals that you'd set for yourself. You said you wanted to 'keep the gaijin in line'. And honestly? I really wasn't interested in that, except as your friend. But now?"

Now? Now those goals might be forever unattainable. Her father was taking her away from here in the summer, already searching around for a better-funded Tokyo high school that would accept a third-year student for her final term. Taking her away from Tsuruga... but also taking her away from Hayato and Tatsunoko.

"Now?", she chuckled sadly into her hands. "To hell with my 'duties'. No one ever showed gratitude for it anyway." _Let Koashimizu be overrun with wild gaijin and fall into chaos for all I care any more. Tokyo can stand strong as a bastion against them._

Looking up, she noticed that Hayato was actually dragging a heavy box over to the door to barricade it, dispelling any lingering confusion as to what her intentions were here.

Kujou smiled. That settled it. The old Reiha Hayato was finally back, coming to her in her hour of need. All it really took was her forsaking her goals... but there could be other goals, other dreams to pursue. More achievable ones.

 _And for my thankless efforts for all these years, I do think a little reward is in order._

"Just relax", her old friend suggested, smiling in the near darkness of the dorm room now that all the lights were out, the door blocked and the window shut. "It'll be like old times, I promise."

 _Old times..._

Hayato came on just as she wanted, a strong and dutiful gaze precluding a strong and dutiful hand. Hayato worked out at the fitness club more than any girl Kujou had ever seen, and it showed on her body. Briefly, she wondered if she might actually be more fit than another common sight in that cluttered room- Tatsunoko.

 _No. Forget about Tatsunoko. He's not your friend any more. He's just as much of a weak, useless coward as the rest of them. Forget him. He's completely worthless. What good is a king who doesn't protect his queen?_

After all it was Hayato, not Tatsunoko, who had introduced her to love.

Imagine her surprise when they'd introduced each other, simultaneously. Both of them had been young, unsure of what their feelings meant back then, both of them already knowing that having those feelings was considered unusual. That some might actually resent them displaying those feelings for each other publicly. Imagine her dismay to learn that her father Daisuke was one of those who held only scorn for the idea that she might spend the rest of her life together not with a strong rich man who would help advance his career, but with Reiha Hayato, who was stronger than any man she could name.

Together, they'd come to the decision that it didn't matter. The rushing sensation that hit her whenever they touched was something that defied all restriction, or so she had felt at the time. It had been electrifying. Mesmerizing. And having to go for years without that touch now felt like it, not Aiko Tsuruga or anything else, was the primary cause of her crankiness.

"I hope you don't take offense, Ku-chan", Hayato sauntered closer, "that I'm glad. Glad that you're done with that now."

"Not done", Kujou corrected her hastily, leaning back eagerly on her bed. "I'm just... taking a break, that's all. Summer vacation's coming up. Then..."

Closing in, Hayato hushed her, pressing a finger to her lips. "No more of that for now. Just relax. Let me take care of you. It can be the way we used to be..."

Leaning all the way back in a way that felt like it would be difficult to get out of, Kujou sighed happily. "Should I...?"

"There's no need, Ku-chan", Hayato assured her smoothly, gliding behind her to take a seat on the pillow, her hands moving down to touch her shoulder muscles in a wonderfully delicate way. "We are still at a school dorm, after all."

" _Screw school_ ", she growled, inwardly surprised to find out just how much she really meant those words. "It doesn't teach what people really need to know."

Reiha didn't respond to that. That was one of the things that made them so good together- she knew when her friend was merely talking to herself rhetorically, not requiring a two-way conversation. Reaching down further past the back of her neck, she began massaging Kujou's shoulder muscles in a way that elicited sporadic purrs of pleasure from her.

"Koashimizu is too far away from real civilization to know how discipline is supposed to work", she went on, enjoying herself in a way she couldn't remember doing since the start of the year, when she'd met...

 _No. I won't say her name. I won't even think it. She who must not be named doesn't deserve a place in my mind. Just forget her. Forget about all the useless peasants, and leave them to their deserved chaos._

"Tokyo schools are way better", she decided. "They make sure their students understand that harmony is important, and they make sure to punish problem students who disrupt that harmony. More importantly, they try to keep the gaijin away, instead of inviting them in."

Reiha's hands traveled up her shoulders to reach the neck muscles, performing the same duty for them. "Koashimizu does have student uniforms though."

"They do", she admitted. "But they're green and white, for pity's sake. What kind of uniform makes you look like fresh asparagus? Our national color is red after all, and black is always in style. Shujin Academy might have a quilt pattern on their pants, but at least they show their pride in their country."

"Will you be going there then?"

Her laugh mixed mockery of that school with delight at Hayato's warm touch. "Not a chance. That school's got a bad reputation ever since that incident six years ago. No, daddy will definitely be looking for a better-funded school with a strong reputation for honoring our culture and having a high discipline standard. Some place better suited for me."

Reiha's wonderful tender fingers glided further up, perhaps in preparation to start braiding her hair the way she used to...

"A jail, then."

She had half a second to be shocked by that sudden statement before Reiha's hands locked themselves down on her neck like a steel vise, pressuring it until she could barely breathe, never mind talk.

Those fingers, those impossibly strong hands forced her down into a helpless prone position as Reiha's head rose up, positioning itself over her so Kujou could see the completely _wrong_ look on the taller girl's upside-down face. Far from the passionate serenity that had brought her in, she looked more like a hungry animal perching over its prey, its grip just loose enough to allow her weakened gasps just above asphyxiation.

"For years you spread false justice at Koashimizu", Reiha rasped, drawing nearly close enough to kiss. "Endlessly persecuting those whose only crime was being foreign exchange students, and gathering power to yourself, undermining teachers and students with whom you disagreed, even getting one of them fired from their job."

Kujou gaped emptily in horror. Among the hundred other things that came as a shock in this moment, she had never heard Hayato use the phrase 'whom'.

"You've lived a soft life of privilege. You've never known the pain which you have caused to so many innocent people less fortunate than you", Reiha decreed, her fingernails digging into Kujou's neck like thorns. "If you had, you'd never continue. Pain educates, far better than any school. It humbles, instructing us in the need to serve the cause of justice. Pain is a _God_. A God of justice."

"Y-y...you...!"

That was all she could manage to get out before Reiha's grip tightened further, somehow far stronger than even her fit body should allow, even more irresistible than Tsuruga's grip had been during that spiteful confrontation they'd had in the restroom months ago.

 _Tsuruga... Did Tsuruga put you up to this?_

There had been rumors making the rounds. Rumors that Hayato and Tsuruga had been secretly meeting up off campus, that they were actually friends. Kujou had known the value of rumors, and carefully left it alone.

"Don't talk", Reiha ordered, dark lips grinning insanely, her eyes glimmering in the dim light. "Criminals don't have the right to talk. And make no mistake; you _are_ a criminal, Benihime Kujou, for you've bullied and hurt countless innocents. Fortunately for you, bringing criminals around to the cause of justice- teaching evil ones the error of their ways- is my specialty."

"N...no...!"

"No no no, you dirty little bitch. Hush now. The first step in the process is to make you feel the pain and humiliation that you have brought to others, until you're ready to confess all your sins with your own mouth."

The way that Hayato gave a sudden, vicious bite at the tip of her nose cemented the truth, allowing Kujou to simmer in her growing fear. This wasn't the Hayato she'd been friends with. This wasn't _any_ kind of Hayato she had ever known.

This girl was like a savage animal, someone who should have been locked up in an insane asylum long ago. Her grip suggested lengthy expertise with the 'art' of personal torture, leagues beyond anything Kujou herself had ever planned for a gaijin or a student who became friends with gaijin.

This realization- the sudden terror clawing at her stomach made her try to scream for help, but without enough air the sound was weak and useless, unable to escape the dorm room. Her own arms tried to pry the grip loose, but it was like trying to dig through concrete. Her legs spasmed, banging on the bed cushion, desperate for any kind of escape.

"No one will come and help you now", Hayato whispered breathily, drawing even closer. "No one will believe you if you speak of this. No one truly likes the self-proclaimed 'queen' Koashimizu. The others- Sonoka, Fushima, Tarutami- they only obeyed you because they were attracted to your power and authority, to the opportunity you gave them to torment others, venting their own insecurities. But the truth is, they all secretly fear your wrath. Or rather, I should say, _feared_. No longer."

And as crazy as this psycho bitch was, Kujou knew that was the absolute truth. Why else would they have voted against her when the tide turned?

Why else would they abandon her as soon as she was no longer in the SDC?

It was true. And in that brief, agonized moment, she hated them all even more than she hated Tsuruga.

She hated Fushima.

She hated Sonoka.

She hated Tatsunoko.

Those fair-weather friends... she hated them all.

That hate burned in her blood. But it wasn't enough to free her.

"Don't worry", Hayato cooed into her ear, gentle as though they were actually still enjoying each other's touch on the bed. Perhaps _one_ of them still was. "They were merely your minions, carrying out the crimes that you ordered. But they will receive proper punishment for those crimes as well. Justice must be served, after all. Will you continue to be a criminal or accept rehabilitation, and aid in theirs?"

 _Daddy... Anyone... Please... Help me... Help...!_

Wracked by the pain, Kujou couldn't understand what exactly the psycho bitch wanted of her. Fear flooded her being, blocking out all sensation of time until a loud crashing sound broke the trance.

"Let her **go**!"

 _That voice..._

Blurred noise, which her oxygen-starved brain couldn't properly interpret any longer. Then, the asphyxiating vise released her and vision came flooding back.

It was Tsuruga. Tsuruga, and Rosea standing just behind her looking like he was ready to fight. _Tsuruga... always Tsuruga... always ruining everything..._

Standing up off the bed behind her, Hayato shrugged innocently. "I'm only following the dictates of justice. Kujou is a vile criminal who must be taught the pain she's caused others. You object?"

"You're damn right we object!", Rosea shouted, looking an inch away from jumping in to forcefully separate them.

"Even Kujou doesn't deserve what you were doing to her!", Tsuruga agreed. "Let her _go_!"

Dizzy and feverish, Kujou knew she had to be misunderstanding something. Tsuruga and Rosea, coming to her rescue? Hayato treating them like they were old acquaintances?

So it was true. All of it.

"Y-youuu...", she managed to slur, weak from oxygen deprivation. "Traitor."

But Hayato merely smirked sadistically, an energy in her poise that had never been there before. "I told you. There was _never_ a time when I was on your side."

"You were never on anyone's side. You're a Shadow", Tsuruga remarked harshly before turning to her victim, much less certain about what to say to her longtime nemesis. "Kujou... I can imagine what this must look like. Just know that Hayato's not herself right now. This _isn't_ her, okay? It's not her. It's something else."

She twitched. Not the real Hayato? As usual, Tsuruga made no sense. "Haaate... Youuu..."

But Tsuruga wasn't facing her. It was like she didn't even care. Her eyes were focused on Hayato, poised as if preparing for battle.

Hayato seemed to think the same, her smile almost euphoric. "That wouldn't be fair, now would it? You can't use your power in this world, after all. No. If you want to stand against me, against _justice_... then come to my world. Come to Shirubashiti! We can settle things there... and I'll teach you all a new symphony of glorious agony."

"Looking forward to it", Tsuruga replied icily, and Kujou froze up in confusion. It felt like she couldn't understand what she was seeing any more than the words they were saying. She seemed so... _different._ Maybe this wasn't Tsuruga. How could someone who broke down and cried so easily when they'd first met seem so fierce now?

Then the lights in the dorm corridor flickered on, and the spell was broken. Kujou saw several other girls in the hall staring at them, attracted by the commotion until they saw Rosea, at which point some of them pointed and shouted. That went on until Ekuya appeared, at which point everyone went fearfully silent. Even Tsuruga.

She didn't get to see much of the wrath that followed, or watch Rosea getting dragged out of the building by his ear.

By then, she'd fainted.

 _I hate you, Tsuruga._

 _Hate youuuu..._

* * *

6/19 Thursday

After School

"Sooo", Jiachi concluded in front of their rapt audience, firmly seated on one of the damp rocks in their new 'hideout'. "Not exactly our finest moment, yeah?"

None of the Voyagers who this was news for looked like they completely agreed with him, or at least they wanted to do something to soften the blow. Instead, it was Noel who spoke first, if dejectedly. "So Ekuya-san saw you. What will your punishment be?"

"One week of detention", Jiachi replied, waiting for the others to hold their breath in worry before finishing, "-starting next week. _And_ they'll call my folks and tell them I was caught sneaking into the girls' dorm."

"The same for me", Aiko surprised everyone. "Apparently, it was my fault for letting you into the dorm."

"That's not fair!", Mira pouted. "It wasn't your fault he insisted on coming with you, and you even saved Kujou's life from the Shadow!"

"True", she acknowledged, "but who's going to tell them that? I think it was more because Ekuya-san was upset she had no way to punish Kujou herself, or Hayato. Honestly, one week is better than I thought it would be."

"Hey, cheer up man", Julian called after seeing how dejected Noel was about the entire mess. "It's not so bad. This'll actually be my first time this year. Considering all that's happened lately, that's a miracle."

Noel winced, withdrawing further into the wall of the cavern. "No, it's not that. Just the opposite, in fact- I should've gone in there with you. I shouldn't have even hesitated to follow you. Someone's _life_ was at risk, and I was still worried about breaking a mere school rule."

Julian shrugged, clasping his hands behind his head. "Take it easy dude. You're the 'good boy', remember? Besides, I don't think you being there would've made a difference; that damn Shadow was too strong for any of us to actually stop."

"But she did stop", Mira reminded him. "She stopped torturing Kujou when you showed up. And now Pelagio's watching her, right? I assume that's why he's not here with us today?"

"That's right", Ai nodded solemnly. Considering how unprepared they'd been for last night's events, the end result could only feel like a good omen. "We can't let her hurt anyone else. After what I heard, she'll probably go after other members of the SDC who helped Kujou bully foreign students."

Mira shuddered in fear for their safety. Certainly, those students had been her tormentors for years, but they didn't deserve the kind of torment that Hayato's Shadow was more than capable of inflicting. No one did.

"Kaneshiro's Shadow", she corrected, remembering the other shocking revelations they had shared with her so far. " _Baiba_. I can't believe she was actually descended from a real Yakuza boss!"

"We don't get to choose our family", Noel remarked. "My grandfather, and some of my uncles back home... Well, let us merely say for now that they are not the nicest of people outside of Berlin's public eye."

After wandering into their cavern without the ceremony from last time, Morgana had remained fairly silent until now, equally astonished by the fallout from the Kaneshiro case that he had never even known of. "I know it sounds harsh... but we had no choice but to change Kaneshiro's heart. We couldn't let him continue extorting Shujin students, and he would have exposed us all as well."

"Yes. Dr. Spica said the exact same thing", Aiko agreed morosely. "Kaneshiro had to be stopped back then. All we can do now is try to save his daughter."

"How?", Noel wondered. "We cannot travel to Faraway Lands without Pelagio, and he must keep a watchful eye on Hayato's Shadow now, yes?"

"Yeah", Julian admitted quietly. "Just like when my Shadow ran wild in the real world, hurting..."

"Me", Aiko provided, eager to move on from that horrible memory. "And I doubt the Masked Circle's going to give us another opening by trying to recruit that one to their side. Dealing with Rosea-kun's Shadow would have taught them that type of Shadow doesn't side with other people."

"That's right. They won't", Morgana concurred. "Those kinds of Shadow- the rulers of Palaces or Lands- are focused entirely on their own goals and belief systems. For example, the elder Kaneshiro's Shadow was singly obsessed with acquiring money. Anything else, they don't care about at all, to the point that we actually used that to our advantage a few times in his Palace."

"And Hayato-senpai's Shadow is completely focused on justice", Ai replied sadly. " _Her_ kind of justice. That makes it even more likely that she'll try hurting people she sees as 'criminals'."

"Still", Jiachi pondered out loud, "she seemed to be okay with having a straight-up showdown with us at the end. Like she was going to get her Land all set up for us to return."

"Well we did do a lot of damage to her city last time we were there", Aiko considered with a sly grin. "But we can't take that chance." Standing, she turned imploringly to their feline guest. "Will you help us, Mona-chan? I know you're also guarding the hospital in case the Masked Circle attacks, but all we need you to do is watch that Shadow for a few hours and make sure she doesn't hurt anyone while we're gone."

"It'll prolly be safe as soon as Hayato decides to return to the real world", Julian added quickly. "That's how it was with mine. As soon as I started thinking about leaving my Land behind, my Shadow went totally _nuts_ , and he had to rush back to my Land try and stop us from leaving."

Morgana's tiny whiskered face didn't reveal much, but his voice sounded thoughtful. "Hmm... Yeah, I guess that would make sense. As soon as you started getting away from the mental state that drew you in there to start with, then the Shadow would feel it, and know that they were in danger. Because if you actually left that Land and what it represents behind of your own will? Then that Shadow would just disappear completely!"

"That's... interesting", Noel wondered, impressed by how quickly Morgana had deduced the relationship between original and Shadow despite only visiting once. "Is that like a change of heart then?"

"Sort of", Morgana sounded less assured about that relationship, the connection between person and Shadow. "It's a bit different. In Palaces, we always had to send a calling card to the real person first, threatening to steal their Treasure... but that isn't an option here. You guys have to actually journey into the heart of a ruler's Land, and convince them to leave it before it's too late. _That_ is what draws out the Shadow to fight for their own existence."

"'Fight for their own existence.' The way you put that", Mira pondered, moving over to carefully pet him. "It almost sounds like you sympathize with them."

"Hah! Never", he snickered. "Shadows aren't even human. They're just a person's distorted heart brought to life. Destroying them completely is a no-go- that just causes a mental shutdown- but getting the person to _see_ ; to accept how awful their Shadow really is? That's usually enough to get them to give up. It's never easy though."

"Never easy", Jiachi shook his head, flashing back for the hundredth time to how the showdown with his own Shadow had gone. If he concentrated on it, he swore he could still feel the heat, inhale the ashen smoke rising up from the buildings his Shadow's mad rampage had burned down. A part of him would always remain back there, in that sepia sun-baked town... but it was a part that he didn't exactly mind losing.

Mira looked less sanguine about it, however. "She was awful", she noted, referring to her own Shadow, a hulking cyborg who was ruthless in keeping intruders out of her 'Princess's' Land. "Horrible. But... she was also _me_ , too. Me changing the way I did means that she vanished. Forever."

"No", Julian walked over to her, putting a hand up to clasp hers, surprised to find it very warm even in the chilly sea breeze. "That's not something that you should mourn, Sorano-chan. I mean... when we grow up, the people we were as kids start to slowly disappear too, yeah? You never forget 'em, but you'd never dream of acting the way you did back then. Like a little kid."

Having actually seen home movies of what Julian was like as a child, Mira giggled shyly, her cheeks lighting up for a moment. When neither could think of anything to say, Aiko stood and nodded at Morgana. "Thanks for that. I was so worried about how awkward it would be, asking these two to share information about what they were thinking when they went through the gate originally. But now you've done it for me."

"You're welcome", their feline guest remarked bemusedly, leaping off his rock to give Julian and Mira more room. "Honestly, I'm kind of interested to hear about this kind of thing myself. The Phantom Thieves all had to awaken to their Personas, but they never had to deal with their Shadows directly the way that you two had to. Humans are just so... fascinating!"

"Glad you're so interested, kitty cat", Julian grunted in annoyance before turning back to Aiko. "I guess it can't be helped, yeah? We need every possible edge we can get to persuade Hayato-senpai, and we only get one more shot at this."

"Maybe two shots if we go on the weekend", Ai amended. "Still, it would be better if we can get it done tomorrow. That's when I planned to go back."

"I don't know how much it will help though", Mira sighed alongside him. "Neither of us have gone through anything close to what Hayato-senpai has endured. Watching her mom get taken away by gangsters like that, having to flee her home so they wouldn't catch her..."

"Can you imagine it?", Noel asked, moving up beside Aiko. "More importantly, we don't need to imagine what her reaction to that tragedy was. We already know that it was. It changed her entire life. She grew up hating criminals of any type."

"Even the Phantom Thieves", Morgana noted somberly. "We knew we were going to earn some people's hatred, doing what we did, but they're in the minority compared to the people we helped."

" _Especially_ the Phantom Thieves", Aiko added, carefully considering their plan. "Vitienne-kun, can you accompany me to the mall tonight? There's something I'd like to look into before we set sail."

"Of course, captain", Noel nodded. "Father still needs my help sometimes, but I was deliberately keeping my schedule as open as I could, knowing that we would need to head back to that Land before the end of the week."

"Thank you." Returning to the matter at hand, she could see in Jiachi and Mira's eyes just how uncomfortable talking about the mental states that had created their Lands and Shadows they really were. "I can tell them if you want. I have a pretty good idea, and you can stop me if I get anything wrong."

"We'd... appreciate it if you could", Mira admitted with a nervous smile. "Go ahead."

It only took a few minutes each- both of them were unwilling to interrupt with corrections even after being invited to. Naturally, the person who had saved them from those self-created prisons would know them, and the doubts and fears that had plagued them, fairly well.

When she was done, Morgana looked more perturbed than she figured a cat's round face could be, his worry coming across more in his voice and mannerisms.

"Kurusu would never admit to it. Not even to me", he began cautiously. "But... he worries about that stuff sometimes too. This whole JCAP thing that's been driving people into a frenzy, with laws getting passed to make life more difficult for citizens who aren't 'full-blooded' Japanese and turning a blind eye to violence and bullying against them. I really don't get it, and I know that it's caused no end of problems for Lady Ann's career as a model."

"Yeah well, we don't really get it much either", Jiachi grimaced. "I'd say go ask Kujou, but all she would hear from you is meowing. Oh, and also she'd probably lie 'cause she's a bitch."

"It's depressing", their guest remarked, eyes lowered. "The Phantom Thieves took down Masayoshi Shido and exposed his crimes to the world, and a lot of other high-ranking people in his party got arrested too... but the United Future Party _still_ won the re-election. Man, Ryuji was so mad when he found out about that I thought he'd hit someone."

"Because of Tamagami", Noel offered quietly. "That's what I heard from others, anyway. He might be old for his line of work, but he's also very smart; as soon as Shido confessed and turned himself in for his crimes, Abe Tamagami started a new movement within the United Future party that distanced itself from Shido and his conspiracy while still holding onto the ideal society he promised the people of Japan."

"Uh-huh", Jiachi grunted angrily. He could still remember seeing the campaign ads on television and online. "It's called a 'splinter group'. He and all his guys kept on saying that _Shido_ was to blame for the crimes, not his ideas. That's when they started this whole 'gaijin are the cause of all our problems' shit show. Shido promised everyone a lot, but he was never exactly clear on how exactly he was going make Japan an 'ideal society'."

"He was far from alone in that practice", Noel remarked sheepishly. "Remember, I _do_ follow my home country's politics a bit too. The leadership there is just as big on words and little on action."

"Of course, we all know what Shido's _actual_ plan was", Morgana lamented. "Using the Metaverse as a weapon to strike down anyone who stood in his way. We later found out that there were even plans in store to start causing mental shutdowns internationally. That way, any country that caused a problem for him could be disrupted to the point that they wouldn't be able to function properly."

"Causing mental shutdowns in anyone in the world, at any time, anywhere...", the sheer implications of what that meant took Aiko's breath away for a moment, and she felt faint. "Hey, Mona-chan... do you think that Tamagami's party could be using the cognitive world as well, to brainwash people? Maybe that's why so many people believe in what he and the JCAP leaders say."

"I don't think so", Mira argued. "I think it's just good speechwriters and desperation. There's still so many people living in poverty. The shining future that Masayoshi Shido promised never appeared, and Tamagami's redirected the blame for that to, well... _us_."

"I suppose it could be possible", Morgana considered more carefully. "It _is_ a world formed from people's subconscious, after all. There's still a lot about this new Faraway Lands incarnation that we don't know about yet. You haven't seen any other Persona-users in there, have you?"

"No one else besides Prince Taurus", she confirmed. "I know the rest of the Masked Circle could prolly do that too, but nothing they've said or done told us that they're interested in helping the Prime Minister. They're focused on recruiting more Persona-users to their side."

"I see. It's a pity I don't have a human form yet", Morgana pined. "I could pretend to be interested in joining them, and then infiltrate their ranks like a meow-velous secret agent!"

Aiko shook her head. "Bad idea. I tried that already and it didn't go well. At all. Lady Scorpio's Persona- Cleopatra- lets her look into people's minds, and learn their secrets."

"But... she might like me!", Morgana protested halfheartedly. "After all, Egyptians worshiped cats. Joking, of course. Looks like we'll have to find another way to deal with them."

"When we can", Aiko promised him. After their earlier encounter with Prince Taurus, and experiencing his mad lust for violence firsthand, no one here would ever again doubt that the Masked Circle was a group that needed to be taken down by any means possible. "Right now, we have a friend that we need to save from themselves... and not much time left to do it."

Outside the cavern, the waves lapping at the shore had begun to fade.

* * *

6/19 Thursday

Evening

The Tenjincho mall's main court seemed unusually crowded, people from both ends of the city and outside it coming together in a sea of activity that always seemed a few spaces away from becoming a frenzy.

Being accustomed to forging through far more imposing crowds however, Aiko navigated it with ease, Noel following after her with a bag full of their purchases, careful not to lose sight of her until they reached the safety of the tables lining the upper mezzanine.

"It seems that once again", he remarked pleasantly, "you are our guide through troubled seas."

She smiled back as they dropped the bags off to rest, trying not to let too much of her worries show through the veneer just yet. "There's a reason Rosea-kun calls me 'Tokyo girl' sometimes. Living in that city definitely forces you to adapt to it."

"I must admit, I sometimes feel anxious around so many people", Noel said, taking a seat and the caffeinated drink he'd bought. "It makes me wonder how many in such a crowd believe in JCAP's words, and despise me."

She shook her head. "You shouldn't. It doesn't matter. Anyone here who hates you for that isn't someone whose opinion you should care about. Furusato-san didn't care, did she?"

The blond boy lowered his eyes, remembering. "No. She treated it as an annoyance, nothing more. Just as Niyoga does."

"See?", she assured him, easily remembering their earlier talk about the strange distance Noel had developed due to his family's wealth and position. "You're fine. And you're definitely more fun to be around than Niyoga."

"Shu-kun..." he offered up an apologetic smile about his oldest, and shortest, friend. "Believe me, I know as well as anyone how much he tends to rub other people the wrong way. If my social skill is rated 0, then his would likely be a negative 5 at best."

"More like negative _20_ ", Ai suggested, not bothering to hide her disgust. "What's his deal anyway? I can't believe anyone would hate manga and cute things as much as he does."

Noel shrugged helplessly. "Niyoga does what works for Niyoga. He's actually surprisingly sensitive about his height, and how people often mistake him for an elementary student. But so long as he can claim to be the number one student, the most knowledgeable person in the room, nothing else matters. To him, anything that might make him feel emotional or sensitive is the enemy."

"For reals", she sighed, looking back at the bag full of costumes they'd just bought. "I'd share everything with him if he wasn't such a jerk. He could help us plan stuff like this better, I'm sure."

"No", Noel surprised her by shaking his head. "I know him. He doesn't take anyone's word at face value. Not even mine. He would want to view the other world for himself, to confirm what you say."

"Which would be bad", she leaned back in defeat. "You know why I was so reluctant to let you in. Or anyone else, really."

He nodded. "Of course I do. The same reason that Yumika-sensei was. It's a dangerous world, yet it piques our curiosity. You don't want anyone else dying in there. Neither do I."

Feeling the pressure of her role resume, stronger than anything the crowd around them could manage, Ai stretched out, regarding their newest crew member fondly. "Pretty much. You know, I'd appreciate it if we could get away from that stuff for a while."

"Suggestion noted", he cracked, raising his straw. "Is that what troubles you now? The way so much of our lives has become dedicated to these dangerous missions?"

Looking into her own fruit juice drink, she chuckled. "Sometimes. Actually, I was thinking about what we saw in that costume shop just now."

He nodded slowly, pretending that he knew exactly what she meant. "Indeed. Those prices are practically criminal. I hardly noticed it when I bought that 'senshi' costume, but-"

"Not that. The one running it. She can't be much older than us, can she?"

He raised an eyebrow. Certainly, the sole employee of the mall's costume shop had looked young enough to be a Koashimizu student. Equal in height to him, she bore long curly hair in a light mauve color suggesting the use of dye, but less carefree were the bags beneath her eyes and the tiredness in her expression as she rang up the bill for the costumes. "I wasn't going to say anything, but..."

"And I don't recognize her from school", Ai continued, her concern only growing with Noel's acknowledgment of it. "Do you think she works full time there? They're open pretty late."

"No way to tell", he sighed. "She was there on my first visit. Perhaps she's merely a dedicated employee."

"The only employee there", she pointed out. "Even when it's this busy. Something fishy's going on at that shop, and I'm not talking about the mermaid costumes."

"Why not?", he shrugged. "The others I understand, but why did we need to purchase one of those as well?"

Looking nervous at the admission, her mouth tightened up. "It's, um... nothing. Just a little side project I'm working on. Nothing we need right away."

He brightened, leaning back into the glossy metal chair. "That _does_ seem to be your default, doesn't it captain? Always working on something or another. A part-time job, the fencing club, or training with that fisherman you met, or trying to reach out to a friend in need. If anything, you should have larger bags under your eyes than that costume shop worker. To be honest, I'm amazed you have any time left to complete your schoolwork."

Momentarily thrown off by his bluntness, she blinked before nodding back. "It's close sometimes", she admitted warily. "Fortunately, I do have Rosea-kun offering to help me out with English, and Sorano-chan to help me with anything else. Sometimes, I wonder if my Persona- my original Persona, Anne Bonny, not the others I've made- isn't helping me too, sending me some kind of special energy so I don't just collapse."

"If nothing else", he suggested after a pause of consideration, "it might grant you a strong will not to give up. Dellingr has helped me as well, if not exactly with fatigue."

He was surprised to hear a giggle from across the table, Ai looking back at him with a lopsided expression. "I'm sorry. Did I say something funny?"

"Not really", she relented. "It's just... the way you said that. Like you still think you're separate from the rest of us. You're part of our crew, Vitienne-kun. You're one of us now. You even called me captain."

Trying not to look too flattered, he took a long sip, feeling the mixture of energy-spiking caffeine coursing down his throat. "That's comforting. As expected of you, Tsuruga-chan. However, I must wonder about its validity. I am the only one here with my own agenda, one I plan to pursue after our current crisis is resolved. I'm also surprised that no one has become upset with my reluctance to fight Shadows directly, even when our lives were in danger."

Their team leader listened in silence before responding. "Rosea-kun might have, if you hadn't saved us all back there. I just assumed you had your reasons."

"My reasons, eh..." His mouth turned. "I _know_ my vow is an oddity. I've known that from the beginning. It's something you'd expect to see from some wise old monk or sage, not from someone my age, right?"

"You said it, not me", she protested, waving both hands amiably. "I don't like to pry."

"No", he teased. "That's why you've dived so far into the minds of so many of your friends, and seen their darkest feelings."

She scowled. "Cheap shot!"

"I know, I know", he surrendered. "I suppose it'll just take time before I really feel at home among the rest of you. And more time before you all can be relaxed around me. That much, I'm used to."

Understanding what he actually meant, she studied the opulently tiled floor. "...You're right. I told you, I don't like to pry. I'm sorry. We don't need to see your Shadow or a Land to know that we can trust you. I've already seen your pain up close. No one who loves another person that much can be bad."

"A large assumption to make", he warned her, sounding triumphant despite his caution. "Contrary to what some children's shows may profess, love alone can't solve all the world's problems. In fact..." Thinking back to images of Ayano Furusato, he found himself unconsciously reaching down and clutching his heart, "...love can be a pain greater than any other."

She smiled deviously. "So you _have_ heard of those shows. Well, that settles it then. As captain, I hereby appoint you our morale officer."

"Pardon?"

Finishing the drink first to build his suspense, she folded her arms in satisfaction. "It's true what you said. All of it. They're dumb kids' shows. They don't have much basis in reality. But, when I saw you in that getup, it brought me back to how I felt when I watched those shows when I was little. They inspired me back then. They still do now. That's the point, I think. Besides just making money. We need people to hope still, even with all the horrible stuff that's going on in the world. In both worlds."

"I... see", he said by what seemed to be reflex action, clearly not understanding at all. "Well... I'm glad to have helped anyway."

His confusion only seemed to make her sound more appreciative, leaning in closer. "You know how to deal with emotional pain. That's good... because I need your help with that now. Dealing with pain. The thing we're dealing with- the thing that's trapping Hayato-san in that other world- is really nothing more than a great big load of emotional pain. So much of it in fact, that she hurts herself, and other people, just so she can block it out."

"Back to business already, I see." Seeing the jest fail to break her even stare, he finished his own drink before deciding on an answer. "Father Shigetsu has helped me with it, back when he was more stable. He taught me ways to help accept it."

"So that's why you're..." Catching herself, she groaned.

He smirked back. "Go ahead. It's fine. You can say it. The reason why I'm 'good boy'. The reason why I'm consider 'stoic', or at least not as openly emotional as most people my age." Suddenly thoughtful, he reached up to tap his forehead. "Hm. Maybe that's why I'm the only one that Niyoga-kun was willing to be friends with. A kindred spirit, so to speak."

"Maybe", she allowed, not wanting to talk about Shukiji Niyoga any more if not necessary. "But you're way warmer than him." _And if being friends with him means you need to stifle your emotions, then it's not worth it. Nothing is worth that._

"Thank you." Waiting for a particularly dense band of crowd noise to pass over them gave him time to think before speaking again. "Pain, now... pain is the most powerful driving force of this world. It dominates animals even more than humans. Fail to eat enough food, and you feel pain in your stomach to instinctively command you to eat. Fail to exercise right, and your bones begin to ache with atrophy. Touch something too hot, and pain will tell you to release it before you're too badly burned."

Ai listened patiently. As obvious as his words might have sounded, it was a new perspective, which was what she was looking for.

"Though many people choose to view pain as a curse, or a slave master", he continued dourly, "because of these things and more, I say the opposite. Pain is a gift granted to us by God, an invisible protector watching out for us. Not unlike a Persona in that regard, though far less unique. What differentiates us from animals is this: Sometimes, humans will willingly tread a path of pain and strife, because we know it will be worth it in the end. Your own suffering is a type of coin that you can spend investing in long-term efforts. I've even heard it suggested that you can't be completely proud of an accomplishment unless it's been purchased with at least some of that universal coin."

"'If it doesn't hurt", she quoted from some book she couldn't completely recall, "you're not doing it right', huh?"

Akira had talked about this too, she realized. It wasn't quite the same words, but the message was the same.

He'd suffered a lot from taking up the mantle of the leader of the Phantom Thieves, perhaps more than anyone else on his team. There had been pain before he'd arrived at Shujin academy too, visited on him by the greedy distortions of Masayoshi Shido.

But the least painful path, for him...

The least painful solution for Akira, the path of least strife, would have been to ignore that woman's desperate cries. He could have avoided the entire mess of dealing with a stacked trial, facing an assault on his permanent record and the ostracism that came with being a 'dangerous delinquent'. He never would've had to leave his home town, never gone to Shujin at all...

And the Phantom Thieves would never have existed. Their targets would have escaped judgment, continued on with their wicked deeds, always camouflaged by society and their own calculated lies.

And Masayoshi Shido would rule Japan. Possibly the world, if what Morgana said was true. The avoided pain would not disappear. It would be magnified and passed onto every person who suffered under the reign of Shido. Which would be many, if the stories were true.

Perhaps even she might have been one of those victims. After all, as many had pointed out, her hair color left her nationality uncertain. Without access to any information regarding her father, 'pure' status would be impossible to prove. It went without saying that Noel, Mira, and possibly even Jiachi would also pay for Akira's inaction as well, experiencing a far greater torment than anything they'd known.

 _He's right,_ she decided. _We do need pain in the world. We need it to be able to feel empathy for other people. Avoiding it, pushing it off onto others... that's what the distorted people did. Kamoshida, and Madarame, and Kaneshiro and the rest. It turned them all into monsters 'cause they couldn't face it head on._

She snorted. "I've been an idiot. Thinking I could heal other people's pain alone, just so I'd be more comfortable at Koashimizu."

Noel didn't seem surprised. Like Mira, he rarely seemed to have anything bad to say about someone. This time though, his normally handsome face seemed paler, hardened with the same resolution he'd 'let go' of Ayano Furusato earlier.

"You can't do it for them. All you manage to do that way is make them dependent on you. What you can do, though, is be there to help them face it. Sometimes, just having a shoulder to cry on can make all the difference in the world. I've had a great deal of experience myself."

"Uh-huh." She felt thankful then. Thankful to whatever Gods there really were that neither Mira or Julian had become too dependent on her the way Noel said. She and Pelagio had beaten up their Shadows... but they'd both found their own resolve to fight back first. Even then, she'd sometimes wondered if Mira could function well without her. "So have I. And tomorrow, we'll go get some more... Lucky us."

"The familiar voice of someone overburdened", Noel commented, clasping her open hands sympathetically. "When this is done, we should have a break."

She winked back. "No argument here. Actually, we were gonna go visit Tokyo for our summer vacation. By we, I mean me, Rosea-kun and prolly Pelagio too. Interested in joining us?"

His own smile widened. _"Schon._ It would be... my pleasure. You see? Something to look forward to when our job is done. A promise. A bright light just beyond the painful path. That's what keeps people moving forward when everything seems dark."

"Always the poet, aren't you?", she snickered back. "But you're right about one thing... We'll definitely be earning this summer vacation. So it's time we got started."

* * *

Persona Profile #14: Arsene

Arcana: Fool

Strength: Curse

Weakness: Ice, Bless

Abilities: Eiha, Cleave, Sukunda, Dream Needle

Background: Fictional gentleman thief created by Maurice Leblanc. He was known for targeting criminals or those who were much worse than himself, making him an anti-hero of sorts within his own stories. Believed to have been partly inspired by the French anarchist, Marius Jacob.

* * *

A/N: So it probably won't come as a shock that I've been playing Persona Q2 quite a lot lately. It seems to be drawing on a few themes I planned on using later on in this story. Oh well, rewrite time. I do feel like there's a bit of an imbalance with the bosses being massively more difficult than regular battles, easily beating any FOE in their dungeon and requiring grinding, but maybe I just need to learn to fight them better.

Kabuto S. Inferno: No need to apologize. You called it- I do indeed have a grand overarching plan in mind for some more elements of Persona 2 to emerge as the truth is revealed. The new Masked Circle is intended not only as the 'inheritors' of the tiles from the previous one, but also designed to have some similarities to the Divine Powers from SMT4: Apocalypse. In the short term, my plan for them is to create a group of powerful enemy Persona users more memorable than Strega.

EnPassant4264: Glad to see you're enjoying it. I would never be bothered by too many reviews, feel free to say as much as you like, it keeps me productive.


	44. Pull The Trigger

_This story is a work of fiction. Any similarities to events or persons living or dead in your world is purely coincidental._

* * *

 _Can You Hear This Late Night Sing?_

 _Decide The Fate Of **Everything**_

* * *

6/20 Friday

Afternoon

The voyage back across the ocean towards Reiha's Land was oddly quiet, the normally talkative crew silent as they each individually contemplated what lay ahead of them.

None of them expected what Noel was the first to see. "Wait. I... don't believe that was there before, was it?"

Climbing up to the top rail of the ship to have a look, Aiko cursed. "Nooo. Definitely not."

Previously, the strange monochrome city had laid wide open to attack, but it was now enclosed behind several towering walls of dark steel, lined with several squat guard towers and searchlights which looked identical to the kind used by the zeppelins.

"No wonder she wanted us to come here", Jiachi growled. "She's got the place totally blocked off!"

"No. Just the harbor", Pelagio pointed out, his voice emanating from the ship's decking. "Unfortunately, that is also the only entry point."

"Hmm", Aiko considered. "Alright. This must have been built in just the last few days. Let's find out just how sturdy it is... Guardian, let's veer to port side. Dancer, Gunslinger, man the canons on that side and fire at will."

"Aye, captain!"

Inwardly pleased by how easily the three she'd named had acted- even if they'd used a nickname she wasn't fond of- she watched as a pair of their cannon shots flew out to blast the wall, scorching and zapping the surface but unable to do anything more than cosmetic damage. Subsequent shots yielded the same result, and before long she called a cease fire.

She'd only just ordered that when something smashed into their ship hard enough to knock her and the rest of the crew completely off their feet. Running back up to the deck, Mira gaped at the sight before searching for the source. "Cannons", she gasped, pointing in panic at the base of the guard towers. "Over there, mounted right beneath the lights!"

"Full... sail!", Aiko managed to grunt, vaulting back to her feet. "Hard to starboard! Get away!"

A minute later, the impacts finally stopped, and they had time to look back and realize the range of the enemy's cannons. "If we were to sail right at that gap between those two walls", Noel noted grimly, " _then_ we might be able to pass through. But... that would require us to take the direct fire of their cannons for nearly a full minute."

"I shall endure what I must, to secure our victory", Pelagio claimed, prompting half the crew to roll their eyes at his bravado.

"Maybe", Aiko pointed to the center. "But now that I know about those cannons, I can see there are more of them closer to that gap. Hm... Eight towers in total, it looks like. We can't risk taking that kind of punishment. Guardian, let's go around again. Slowly this time."

"Of course, captain."

Retracing their course, they drew even with the first tower, sporadic shots causing massive eruptions in the water nearby but none slamming into them directly yet.

"They're higher up, so they have better range than our guns", Mira slumped in defeat. "Can't get through. Maybe we should come back another day, after we figure out a way to get past this?"

"There's no time to wait", Aiko shook her head. "We only have today and tomorrow." Moving back to the rail to get a better look, she pulled her cornered hat back, studying the wall's angle. "Wait... Yes, that's it. Trim the main sail so we slow down even more. Guardian, please take us on a pass along the far right side of the wall. I'll take the wheel and guide you."

The response sounded less certain. "Captain?"

"We need an exact course", she pointed at the tower again, trying to make sure he understood. "We want to be within range of the farthest tower on the right side so our shots will reach, but far away from the rest so they won't hit us."

Looking back at the arrangement of the towers to be sure, Julian snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah. Duh. We can move and they can't. Just need to take 'em down one at a time without exposing ourselves."

"Exactly!", she exulted. "Once all the guns on that side are down, we can just coast on in."

Their ship continued to shake with the blasts from the single tower of course, but after four return shots the round silvery gun poking out of that tower's base was permanently silenced, nothing more than a pile of wreckage.

"Sure you can take that three more times, Guardian?", she asked, already knowing what his reply would be. To be safe, she had Noel take the wheel for the next tower, joining Mira and Julian down below to fire three cannons at once, guaranteeing the enemy never got more than a handful of hits in each time.

"It's working", Mira said admiringly once the third tower had exploded. "They're not close enough to cover each other, are they?"

"Only against a ship sailing straight for the center", Ai corrected her with an excited smile. "If someone tried that, they'd expose themselves to eight guns all at once."

"Ah."

"Freakin' morons", Julian snorted. "Those towers must've been a rush job. Oh well, shouldn't complain. Nice trick there, captain."

Her reply was lost however, over the cacophony suddenly exploding from behind them, far too massive to be a missed cannon shot. It cast water in every direction before giving way to the sight of a steel-clad juggernaut of a ship more formidable than any defenses a Land could conjure.

When she saw the gleaming scythe blade hanging off the bowsprit, Aiko's reaction was instantaneous: "Back to full sail! _Now_! Ignore the last tower, we have to get inside! Hurry!"

Thankfully, they were only halfway past the fourth tower before its shots redirected onto the Reaper's vessel. The intact cannons along the left side followed suit, but their shots may as well have been spitwads for all the damage they did to the battleship's armor.

Instead, it was the Reaper's own fire which dogged them, violently rocking the deck again and again like miniature quakes until the safety of the narrow gap had enclosed them.

Even if Noel hadn't had the sense to fear the metal colossus, he would have been able to read the fear on everyone else's faces from miles away. Once he was certain they were finally safe, he stared at Aiko, at the anxiety frozen on her face. "Captain. Just what... was that?"

"The Reaper", she panted, one hand pressed to her heart after coming so close to annihilation. "It's the... absolute most powerful Shadow in this dimension. At least, I _hope_ it is. It's been kind of... stalking us lately."

"I see", he said slowly, digesting the implications and not liking any of them. Looking back through the gap, he couldn't see any sign of the hooded figure he expected to be standing on that massive deck. Rather, it was the ship itself which looked back, too large to chase them but too powerful to fear the defensive cannons. In fact, it wasn't long before the Reaper's cannons turned stymied vengeance into pure elemental destruction aimed at the remaining towers, lighting up the night with fresh explosions and fire. _The Reaper... a dreaded machine of death._

"Guess he's not used to having his prey escape so many times", Jiachi remarked, though even he sounded more subdued than his usual. "Bastard keeps coming after us. That's why it's dangerous for us to just blindly explore this world. Never know when he's gonna show up."

"Keep going", Aiko commanded, turning back to the wheel. "He might blast through the walls to reach us at this rate. The only place we're really safe is on land. Um... Guardian?"

Only then did they all notice that Pelagio had been drifting aimlessly, unresponsive to their commands. Gripping the wheel and sending Noel and Jiachi up to change the sails, Aiko managed to steer him into the harbor.

"I guess he took a few more hits than we thought", she sighed once they were all safely disembarked. "Okay Guardian, you can change back now."

No response. The more they looked at him, the more the silver-winged ship looked more and more like a ruined derelict only remaining afloat by staying nestled up against the angular concrete docks, the scalloped hull riddled with holes and cracks.

"Poor man", Noel remarked. "Erm... poor bird-thing. Whatever. Illuminate the way, Dellingr!"

They all watched in wonderment as the light emerging from Mender's Persona slowly, carefully covered their damaged ship, watched as the frayed ropes reattached themselves to pegs, as cracked boards were knit back together and shattered windows reformed themselves into flawless sheer panes, and the leaning mast was propped back into place.

Heard a surprised voice pipe up, as if waking from a nap: "Huhn...? Oh! I see we have arrived. About time."

Aiko waited until he was done transforming back into his armored form before calling out a Persona, Lorelei, and casting her weakest water skill at him. Sputtering and coughing from the soaking, Pelagio took a moment to recover enough to speak.

"C-captain? Am I to assume... that was my punishment for falling asleep?"

"Nooo", she told him. "It's your punishment for being so stubborn you don't even let us know you're in trouble until you get knocked unconscious. You're just lucky that Mender's here."

"It's my fault really", Noel insisted. "I should have used Dellingr's power while we were dealing with the towers instead of just standing there like a fool. That way he might not have gotten so damaged."

"Don't take the blame for him now", Aiko sighed. "He seems to make it a habit of shielding us at the expense of himself. Which _would_ be fine, except he never admits when he's at his limit. I'd say he picked that up from my own idiocy, but he was pretty much like that when I first met him too."

"Captain?" For once Pelagio sounded uncertain.

"I'm sorry about this. We really don't want to be so harsh on you, Guardian", Mira chipped in more compassionately, kneeling down slightly to match his eye level and stroking his head until he flinched away. "Saber just worries about you, that's all. We all do. You keep putting yourself in danger, never telling us when you need help. There's no shame in saying that. Try it now."

Stunned silence fell on Pelagio's round-eyed face, the hesitation stretching until some of the others began to wonder if it was literally impossible for their companion to speak those words.

"Please?", Mira near-whispered.

Pelagios beak clicked emptily, his raptor eyes bulging with effort. "I... I... I require... a-a-assistance."

"Wow. Did that hurt?", Jiachi tried not to look too amused at the sight. "C'mon, angry bird. Are you on this team or not? Yeah yeah, you're a tough guy, we get it. But there's no shame in asking for help if you need it."

Pelagio's twin orbs studied him back, the gradual realization that Julian was merely speaking what the others thought dampening the ire of his trademark harumph. "So. What now, then?"

Aiko smiled, producing a simple-looking bags stuffed with costumes. "Now, we start the plan. We draw Hex out."

* * *

"The Phantom Thieves have been sighted. I repeat, the Phantom Thieves have been sighted."

The report continued on needlessly- the first mention had been enough to quicken Reiha's pulse and bring her gaze back up into the present. Back up into her duty. The defense of her home, her Shirubashiti, from the criminals who threatened its people. The Phantom Thieves were _here_... and now they would learn what it meant to threaten innocents. Her wrists trembled in anticipation.

Her new 'partner' floating beside her either had no proper name or didn't want to share, and so she had settled on 'Wraith'. He now joined the pursuit, seemingly just as eager as her to visit punishment on the deserving. Some of the zeppelins were veering off as well, but they were too slow. They'd never get there in time. They never had.

 _Of course, neither have I_ , she acknowledged in self-depreciation. No matter how many times she'd caught up to that bastard Joker and beat him up, he remained the very definition of a trickster- he always managed to get away in the end, and wait to strike again.

 _But not this time. This time, he doesn't get away. This time, he pays. For everything._

In a strange show of mercy, the Thieves had shied away from the demolished area, choosing instead to rob Shirubashiti's sole museum. On the outside, broodingly grim aesthetics guarded the interior, where ornate marble sculptures and set pieces stood to tell the history that had led to the Land's creation. Hex had never bothered looking too closely, only acting to prevent robberies here, as the marble always made a tempting target.

She caught up to them in the main gallery, which accessed most of the larger sets. While for the moment they seemed to just be admiring the sculptures, their outfits were unmistakable. They were just as she remembered from that legendary broadcast that had taken over the airwaves six years ago: a bold red cat lady outfit and mask, zippers running up and down seemingly at random and left open at the top to reveal an ample chest. A blond boy with a black vest and pants with red kerchief hung around the neck, thickly reinforced segments protruding out of the back like bones with a skull mask as complement. Another dark garb similar to her own with reinforced gauntlets, but topped off by spiked shoulder pads and a harsh-looking piece of curved industrial metal serving as the eye mask, an open slit wrapping around it allowing sight.

To top it off, there was Joker himself. A stylish black trench coat, gray undershirt and stark white domino mask, frizzy black hair ballooning out from behind it just like back then.

 _The Phantom Thieves are really here, trying to steal from this museum..._

"It's Joker", she whispered, careful not to alert them. "He's mine. You get the others."

Floating silently beside her, the wraith's ashen mask slowly descended, then ascended, an unnervingly hollow yet focused voice emerging from the empty gap where its mouth ought to be. "It shall be my privilege. They shall all burn in the fires of justice."

"So you _do_ talk after all", she smiled back beneath her helmet. "Man, you're a better 'protector of the night' than I am."

"That doesn't matter", the harsh voice replied, the torch-bearing ring behind it spinning up until the entire shape was a wreath of crimson flames. "What matters is our victory. What matters is that we stop the Thieves."

"Got that right. We go in five. Four... three... two... one...!"

The Thieves seemed awed by the display itself, not even suspecting an attack until they struck. Disc-shaped Hexarangs flew out out of the gloom, knocking Joker's gun from his hands, while a dart struck one of the female Thieves in the neck. In the time it took them to realize what had happened, Hex had already descended from atop one of the pillars, drop kicking the blond male Thief down into the light-ensconced floor tiling.

The other one, the one with the spiked shoulder pads, had her gun up and aimed before the Wraith pounced, a sharp claw lancing out to send it clattering along the floor. A part of her wanted to shout a warning to him that there were more than four Phantom Thieves and the others might well ambush the ambushers, but there was no time for that now. Not when Joker was already brandishing his traditional thief knife, the blade glinting under the artificial light.

Her arms lashed out, ignoring the cut to take him in the chest, soaking up the pain and powering through it as she had learned to do long ago, the follow-up swing blasting him into the display case glass. Following after past the fallen minions she put a heavy boot into Joker's collar before he could get up, ready for any attempt to escape.

"Show's over", she snarled, bracing for the other Thieves to rise and charge but mainly focused on the wretch pinned beneath her heel, on trying not to feel so proud she screwed up. _Got you. Got you at last. Go ahead. Try a smoke bomb, I dare you. Whistle and call the other Phantom Thieves down on us and run away in the confusion like the coward you are._

 _Doesn't matter. This time, I've got you. This time, you'll face justice, and suffer for all the crimes you-_

But when she looked down again, she frowned. Joker wasn't doing any of that. His chest rose and fell in a barely perceptible motion, stifled by the pressure until his head tilted back...

It was enough to make her forget all about the other Thieves, the way that Joker's frizzy hair suddenly seemed to fly off his head, revealing shorter, ginger brown hair beneath. Sensing the way it had caught her off guard, Joker took advantage of her shock, reaching up and lifting his eye mask free.

"Heh. Gotcha."

Hex glowered down at him. This wasn't Joker at all. The black wig was still nestled there behind on the carpet, as if mocking her efforts. This was...!

" _R-Rosea?!"_

The younger boy smiled up at her, grateful to have some of the choking pressure off. "Hi there, Hayato-senpai. Sorry we took so long to come back for you."

Looking back up, she saw the other 'Phantom Thieves' were following suit, swiftly discarding their disguises, her wraith ally momentarily delaying his attack while they tried to figure out what was really going on here. The cat-suited blonde revealed herself as a stern-faced Aiko Tsuruga, replacing the cat mask with a wide-brimmed captain's hat. The shoulder-spiked biker emerged as Mirambela Sorano... and the last one, the blond skull-faced thug, was the only one who didn't need to discard a wig, Noel Vitienne having natural blond hair, if a bit lighter than the Phantom Thief she remembered from the broadcast.

The patchwork remains of their disguises littered the tile and carpet, but beneath those were the familiar outfits they'd worn during their previous visit: Tsuruga wore a grand-looking captain's buttoned jacket, retrieving a three-corner hat. Sorano wore a dancer's scant attire, seeming like she should have been the one to wear the exhibitionist catsuit, while Noel kept an opulent white-gold set of robes decorated with eye marks with wide poofy sleeves, a pearlescent mask beneath the hood covering his face like some kind of robot.

Finally, there was the one still sprawled beneath her, who still couldn't remove Joker's black coat with the boot weighing him down. A simple tug from her pulled it loose to reveal a blazing fiery red coat instead, a gun belt holding up black pants.

Making a noise of disgust, she kicked him away to crash into a statue. This wasn't Joker. It wasn't even the Phantom Thieves. They'd come to the museum on a false rumor.

"Easy with that", Aiko warned her, the rest of her team preparing themselves to fight if needed. "He's a friend too."

She didn't need the mask this time to make her voice sound properly threatening- the anger suffusing it accomplished that handily. "You're my friends. But you're also criminals. You shouldn't have come back here, Tsuruga. I thought the others would've told you already. I've already chosen to protect the people of Shirubashiti- of this world. What the hell was this all about?!"

"A few things", she explained, trying not to sound too hurt by the hostility in her friend's voice. "Something to draw you in, for one. For another, I was hoping the chance to finally catch Joker might make you realize just how stupid this all is."

"Stupid?!", Reiha scowled. No matter how she tried to stay relaxed and avoid any further wrath towards old friends, Tsuruga seemed intent on insulting her. The look in her green eyes shaded beneath the hat's brim suggested a carefully-maintained facade of confidence that could crack at any moment, but her voice showed none of that weakness. "Is it _stupid_ to want to protect innocent people from criminals?!"

"If they were people", Noel provided, his own mask concealing any doubts he might have had, just as hers did. "But they are not. They are merely cognitions, projections filling up this world to give you something to protect."

"We learned everything, Hayato-senpai", Mira remarked sadly, lip quivering. " _Everything_. We know why this city is the way it is now. Because you want to protect people from evil, and you can't do that in the real world. That's why-"

But the Shadow behind them had heard enough. His torches returned to their full force, and a bony claw extended out of the cowl's dark sleeves. "Phantom Thieves or no, they are still wanted criminals, and must face the flames of justice!"

Despite his threats of burning, as the claw tightened a ray of luminescence shot out, blasting a screaming Mira back before Reiha could manage to utter a denial. Even that was halfhearted, and she had the distinct impression that Wraith wouldn't have listened anyway. His next ray followed after, only for Noel to very deliberately place himself in front of it, soaking up the blessed light without any real damage.

"Seems like I'll be the ideal one to handle this", he noted with an excitement she'd never heard from him in the other world. "Captain, you take care of Hayato!"

"Ungh... You're gonna need some help with that", Jiachi pointed out, having recovered from the earlier gut kick and now moving up alongside their healer. "See all those torches behind him? Three guesses what main element this guy uses, and the first two don't count."

Noel looked temporarily confused. "Why would you allow three guesses then?"

Deflating, Jiachi sighed as he pulled his weapons loose. "Okay, can you _please_ stop ruining my jokes for just one sec? You're bad for my vibe, man."

"Oh. Oh I see", Noel rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we should stick to the plan. Illuminate the night, Dellingr!"

The appearance of the bright morning star encased in metal delayed the Shadow's attack for a moment, but didn't stop the rest of his team from following after, summoning their Personas to fight. As Mira stood, emboldened further by the energies of Oya, she turned to Reiha even while using healing skills on herself and others.

"That's why this place has 'people' for you to protect... Kaneshiro-senpai."

Reiha was grateful for the helmet now. It hid her reactions, whatever they might have been. In truth, she couldn't guess them herself. It just felt like the world slipped out of phase for a moment, like she'd experienced the world's shortest blackout, and then she was back and her Wraith protector was now completely engaged in a battle with Noel and Julian. While the former never launched any truly damaging action, as the robed Shadow drew closer Dellingr released beams of wild, kaleidoscopic light from its dozens of apertures, temporarily blinding the creature and giving Julian a big opening to strike- not with his fire, but with the fast, numerous shots from his revolvers.

"Don't..." She stopped, no longer knowing if the command was meant for her Shadow ally or for Mira, uncertainly warping the electronic snarl of the helmet. "If you know... Then you know why I have to stay."

"We know why you _want_ to stay", Aiko corrected, harsher than Reiha expected. She looked like she wanted to run over and join the fight as well, but held her ground, focusing on the plan. "The only thing that's stopping you from leaving is _you_. Like, literally, in this case."

"I know it's hard", Mira emphasized. "Really, I do. Even when I knew the truth, it was agony for me to leave my Land behind. But, Hayato-senpai... if you stay here any longer, you'll never be able to leave! You'll be gone forever!"

"Shut up", Hex growled back, clutching the helmet. Being angry at someone causing her such pain was inevitable. "Please, just shut up already and go back to your world. This one is mine. This is my dream. This is my destiny."

Aiko looked disappointed, moving over and clapping a white-gloved hand to the flesh of Mira's exposed shoulder. "You did you best, Dancer. It's my turn to try now. Go help the others, okay?"

Like their leader, Mira looked momentarily torn, still wanting to stay behind and do whatever she could to help convince their old friend. The start of tears stained her face, but she wiped them away and nodded. "Y-yes, captain. Good luck."

Oya boosted her sprint over, and her leap above the enemy Shadow to release a wave of blistering green winds and lightning. Amazingly, the Wraith didn't complain at all about being forced to fight three on one while his partner just stood there and talked, turning back to Aiko and feeling like she had to act.

"Well? You heard me. Get the hell out of here. This is _my_ place, Tsuruga. And you're all technically criminals here. Because we're friends, I'll let you go this time. But if you insist on staying here..."

Yet once again, the younger girl surprised her by acting hostile enough to be an enemy already, the cruel counterpart to Mira's compassion. "Don't worry. We won't be long. We can go just as soon as you _stop being such an idiot._ "

Behind the helmet, she gaped. Was this really the kind-hearted person she'd first seen in the school courtyard, defending Mira from Kujou's bullying at her own expense? Had they not shared the same green eyes and pale hair, she might deny the possibility.

"You call me that, even knowing the truth about me? Knowing what I've..."

"Knowing what you've been through, _yes_. I do. They took your mom. They took your whole life away from you. All just because your dad was Junya Kaneshiro, and because he had his heart changed by the Phantom Thieves."

Temper rising at the other's merciless glare, Reiha spun around and kicked a statue apart out of rage, only realizing after the fact that it was a statue of an obvious gangster. That this entire set piece they were in was actually a diorama of the day that the Syndicate's professionals had come for them.

When they'd raided her home, and destroyed her old world.

"And no one stopped them! _No one!_ The cops didn't even lift a finger to try to stop it!"

Catching herself, she gave a dark, mocking chuckle, refusing to be baited. "The Dragon Syndicate are free to kidnap and kill people. Cops can't stop 'em. They're indestructible. Other criminals get away with it too. Justice is _dead_ in that world. This one is the only place where criminals get punished the way they should be."

"Because the criminals are _Shadows_ ", Aiko remarked acidly. "And the 'innocent people' are just illusions who never leave their homes. Is that really justice?"

"It's my justice." Feeling oddly satisfied at having finally gotten a look of pity out of her, she watched as the fight between the rest of the Dream Voyagers and her Wraith raged on. The Shadow had now resorted to its strongest attack- predictably, fire skills- not posing as much of a threat to Jiachi but seriously injuring Noel and Mira. "I suppose I should be taking you down now. So you can face your punishment."

Pity still limning her features, Aiko turned and spoke five words that turned the entire world a blazing, seething, vibrating red:

" _No wonder you loved Kujou."_

Reiha didn't remember clenching her fists, or releasing a howl that echoed through the museum dedicated solely to her tragedy. The next second of awareness she had was having an outstretched punch ready to tear into her former friend only to be stopped in place by what appeared to be a hideously grinning Matador-garbed skeleton. A Persona, like the ones the others had summoned.

Normally she would have been intrigued by this sight, but the black rage coursing through her veins was too fresh, too insistent. And as had always, always been the case with her since the incident, the only way to release the red rage was to break something. To break _someone._

Breaking Aiko Tsuruga would teach her to insult justice.

* * *

Seeing sporadic plumes of light, fire and more erupting from the battle in the distance, Aiko grimaced as the action of dodging Reiha's attacks led them further away from the main gallery. _Yippee, objective one complete. Now we just have to survive the rest of it._

Just choosing to go with this method had been a personal trial enough for her liking. Certainly, Noel and Mirambela had both objected when they heard about it, the team's two most kind-hearted members wanting now more than ever to spare poor Reiha's feelings. They would have been much more comfortable with an empathetic approach, a formal intervention reminding their old friend of just what she was leaving behind by staying here in the world of dreams.

They didn't get that _it wouldn't work_. In fact, even with Mirambela, kindness and empathy alone hadn't been enough to sway her in the end. Julian had stayed resolute when his turn came, believing back then that he truly was a wretched enough person to abandon his family for a place where he could punish a mere simulacrum of his father. It had taken a more aggressive, almost insulting talk to get him to snap out of it, with the revelation of his future brother acting as the final touch.

This time, she'd removed the 'almost'. Like Julian, Reiha Hayato was a more hardened soul, one more receptive to decisive, aggressive action than she was to kindness or compassion. If anything could shock her enough to wake her up, it would feeling be the harsh contempt of those that she had once called her friends.

Properly faking that contempt felt like it had burned Aiko's own heart to a cinder within her chest, but now it was done, she'd said the things she had to and there was no going back. Even if that had been the goal, she couldn't think of anything to say that would stop Hex's barrage of punches and kicks, blind with rage yet far more dangerous than when they'd fought each other on the rooftops before.

"Why did you have to come here?!", the masked warrior screamed, the systems inside her helmet twisting accusing words into guttural howls. "I told you- you were innocent! You all had a chance to live happy lives, free of the night! So why...?"

Aiko dodged five more strikes before calculating that she could afford to spare the concentration to speak. "Happy? Innocent? It's like you don't know me at all, senpai."

"You got a normal life!" Despite the lingering ire in her words, Reiha seemed more lucid than a moment ago, reaching for a slew of the sharp-cornered 'Hexarangs' to throw instead of carelessly charging. "You don't have to feel this _pain_ every single day!"

A brief burst of power from her Persona, and a neon green hurricane spun into being, casting the projectiles away to gash into the walls instead of her. "I guess you really weren't listening before", she remarked absently. "A normal person couldn't do that. And believe me, even with these powers of mine, I've learned more about pain in the last few months than I ever thought was possible. I'm _not_ an innocent, Hayato-san. I'm like you- I'm a fighter."

Ignoring the words, Reiha dropped into a slide kick, rising to knock her cutlass aside and force a retreat further down the hallway and up the stairs that Aiko hoped looked convincing.

"Even if you never wanted me to be one", she continued on, arms spread a little wider, "here I am. And... the truth is, Hayato-senpai, ever since we met I've looked up to you. You were just who I wanted to grow up to be. Cool. Dark. Mature. But this? This is just wallowing in self-pity!"

Peering back up from a fresh crater she'd gouged in the wall, Reiha remained silent for a long time, prompting her friend to stop running and watch, wondering for a moment if she'd finally gotten through before she ripped a black-clad arm loose from it, scattering debris across the way. "You... know... _NOTHING_!"

 _Uh oh. I_ might _have pushed that one a little bit too far..._

The resulting chase over the next few minutes was so risky and harmful to the scenery of the museum that it reminded her of her plan against Jiachi's Shadow in more ways than one. There were no more words to be exchanged. It didn't even feel like Reiha was specifically focused on her any more. Instead, the goal seemed to be the destruction of every single piece of art and sculpture depicting yet another moment of the worst week of her life. The end of Ruri Kaneshiro's life.

The bulging, self-important statue of Junya Kaneshiro, Aiko noted, looked particularly unflattering even before a screaming punch crushed half of his smirking head in. A failed sweep kick destroyed the statue's leg as well, letting the sphere of his bulk roll down a staircase and crash through a wall.

At the end of the chase lay the door leading up to the roof that they'd scoped out coming in, a squat railing of concrete devoid of the city hall's gothic elegance but providing a wide view across the greater part of the city, including the area that still showed lingering damage from Joker's even more catastrophic battle with Prince Taurus. Zeppelins prowled overhead, searchlights poring over the rubble.

Just looking at the damage, remembering how it was caused, momentarily took her breath away. Dozens of the monolithic skyscrapers had been shattered in the fight, and apparently putting them all back together in the few days they'd been gone would have been a stretch even for this Land's strange rules. Even the cannon towers from earlier felt rushed, slapped together at the last moment to keep intruders out and manned by Shadows.

 _But it does mean that Reiha's Shadow really does want to keep us out of here. That's good._

Turning away from the damage, she heard her pursuer breaking through the door, turning to meet her and reaching down to the handle of her flintlock pistol. Jiachi's weapons would have been more ideal for this scenario, but taking either of them away might have made the difference in the fight she knew was still going on just beneath them, doubtless proving just as destructive.

"I want to show you something", she said to her old friend, peaceable as if she hadn't been trying to punch her lights out for the last ten minutes. Whether sheer exhaustion or the enduring sense that her rage was steering her wrong, Reiha didn't attack her, merely standing and watching as Aiko pulled her flintlock loose, taking aim not at her, but at one of the nearby residential buildings.

Her target- a rounded multi-floor tenement shielded by slanted roofs, walls at sharp angles- had been too far away from the earlier fighting to show any damage. The argent light contained by the windows revealed more of the city's citizens, who appeared to be in the middle of some kind of family board game. They looked happy. Excited. Glad to be alive.

Aiko didn't need to look to feel Reiha's sudden spike of terror as she realized what was going to happen. It was easy, so easy, to imagine. All she had to do was picture what this would look like if this had been the real world. If it had been actual, living human beings behind that glass pane, and she'd actually been about to shoot one of them.

The possibility alone froze her up for so long that she considered it amazing she wasn't stopped. Was this how the real murderers did it? Some kind of trick of mental gymnastics that they played on themselves to believe that their victims weren't actually real people, that they were just cognitions, empty projections of another's psyche?

"Wait, don't-"

Her final thought before firing was wondering if Bartholomew was watching this. He'd been her harshest critic for so long, always calling out any hesitation to act. Then there was only the deafening, and the crashing of glass.

And no other sound. Reiha's protest had fallen silent as soon as she saw the crack-framed hole in the window. She was the only one who reacted to it; the people inside continued with their game, oblivious. Aiko couldn't quite tell if her shot had actually passed through one of them, but it hardly mattered. Normal people would not completely ignore a bullet crashing through the window of their home.

Sensing the roiling confusion inside that motionless glossy black helmet, Aiko smiled sadly at her side. "Is that enough to prove it to you? What about this?"

Without waiting for permission, she shifted targets over to another window, another with signs of habitation. The shot was even stronger, creating a hole the size of a baseball.

"-Or this?"

A third shot, and this one into a bedroom where someone had been sleeping. Where the _image_ of someone sleeping was, and continued to be.

Finally, Reiha acted, charging in not to harm her but simply to stop the gunshots, one plated shoulder smashing into her arm and slamming the antique pistol cleanly out of her hands and over the railing.

Aiko didn't gape at the loss. The hard part was over, or so she hoped. She stared back into the dark visor that was now within spitting distance, unflinching.

"Projections", she emphasized again. "No more real than the characters in a movie. The only reason they're here is for you. This entire _Land_ is for you. To give you what you want. To make you _think_ you're protecting people from bad guys."

"No... no!"

Hesitating, she decided to gamble. _After all, she hasn't actually hit me yet._ Reaching up, keeping her eyes focused on the hidden face, she wrapped both arms around the armor, pulling her closer, so that she couldn't escape. "It's not your fault, Hayato-san! This world... it twists everyone up! It's taking advantage of your nobility!"

Reiha had no reply. Her gloved fists were clenched, the visored helmet motionless as the lights played off it.

"Take that awful thing off", Ai demanded. "Let me see the real you."

And she could almost see it, too. Even behind the helmet and armor- both physical and emotional- Reiha couldn't hide how much she had been shaken. Not only the beliefs and habits that had trapped her here, but the ones that had been a part of her since that day six years ago:

 _Justice is in the night._

 _The world is divided into innocents, criminals and victims._

 _Only the innocents are allowed to be free of pain, while victims have to fight to protect innocents from the criminals, or else there will be no innocents left to enjoy a pain-free life._

 _If I'm a victim, doomed to suffer like this, then I'm immune to lesser suffering._

 _Justice is dead. Pain is the only real law. The only way to stop criminals is to hurt them until they surrender and stop hurting other people._

 _I was innocent, but made into a victim. Hurting criminals means I don't hurt as much._

 _Criminals deserve no mercy._

 _But...?_

Then, just as quickly, the fists unclenched, the breaches seemed to heal themselves, and the reflective visor refocused on her. "This _is_ the real me."

Both arms shot forwarding, pushing her back to slam into the railing. "This is the _only_ me."

Then those armored, well-muscled arms were vised around her shoulders, not exactly choking as her Shadow had done to Kujou, but inexorably lifting her up, past her feet, hauling her past and over the edge of the rail...

"Why couldn't you just leave me alone? I didn't want you to be a part of this!"

"Ha...yato...", she managed to choke out, struggling in the older girl's iron grip, just as irresistible as her Shadow's had been. _"Tawa!"_

"My name", came the cold whisper, "is Hex. Protector of Shirubashiti."

After the insane stunt they'd pulled escaping city hall, gravity seemed positively eager to swallow her up into its embrace the instant that Reiha let go.

Falling...

* * *

Distance muffled the last of Tsuruga's final scream, and then she was gone into the darkness below without a trace.

And Reiha Hayato no longer knew who or what she was.

It wasn't exhaustion which brought her to her knees. It was the earlier red rage bleeding out and swallowing itself, giving way to the realization of what she'd just done hitting like a wave, more ferocious than any attack. "I... what have I...!"

 _Tsuruga..._

Tsuruga had been her friend. Her _only_ true friend. More than that, she'd been one of the most courageous and gentle people she'd ever met in her life. An innocent, to be preserved and protected. They'd gone to the mall together, eaten together, worked together, laughed together.

And now she was gone. Forever.

 _Because of me._

 _Because I got angry._

 _Angry at someone who was just trying to_ **help me.**

But the rage was gone now, drained away as though it was her own armor melting down. It couldn't shield her from the truth any longer.

Not, as Tsuruga had hoped, the truth of this world. That, she had known for quite some time. This was a different, more personal truth.

That there is no Hex. There is no Ruri Kaneshiro. There is no Reiha Hayato. No Tawa.

That the person standing here on the roof of this museum, to this memorial of tragedy that she herself had created was nothing more than a worthless criminal. A murderer.

Worse, a betrayer. A destroyer of friendships as well as lives.

If the others- Rosea, Sorano, and Vitienne- survived their battle against the Shadow downstairs, and came up here, anything they did to punish her would be completely justified. _Criminals deserve no mercy._

But at this point, it felt like killing her _would_ be a mercy. It would free her of this impossible horror.

The nameless craven who had hidden themselves behind three layered false identities found her arms reaching upwards, past her shoulders towards her own neck. Not to choke it, she understood immediately. That was mercy she didn't deserve. It was to remove the helmet, undoing the clasps and twisting it free.

The instant it was clattering on the brick, her theory was confirmed. The helmet did more than just distort her voice into something masculine and threatening. It was just one more shield against the pain. _A shield I no longer deserve._

Finally free of it, she picked it up, staring into the reflection and seeing a scared, broken, tear-stained face looking back. One who had moments ago believed that the events of six years ago had rendered her immune to any further suffering.

This might have actually been worse though. Because it was a suffering that she had brought upon herself. Perhaps this merely felt worse than the old memory because it was fresh.

It no longer mattered. What mattered was that she no longer deserved this shield to hide behind. It no longer felt like a shield anyway, but a restraint. A relic of sorrow created for the same purpose as the rest of this disgusting outfit- to blot out her identity and nullify painful emotions. To hide herself away.

Exerting all her remaining strength into both arms still took several moments before she heard a thin cracking sound ringing in the air, becoming visible on the visor moments later. Intensifying the pressure made the crack grow, spider webbing out until she began to tear into the surrounding metal as well, eliciting groans acute enough to belong to something that was actually alive. Alive, and all too aware of its painful demise.

One more push, and then the helmet was cracked in half, reduce to a bit of broken wreckage in her hands, to be discarded over the rail like trash.

And Hex was no more. _Criminals deserve no mercy._

She breathed out releasing what she could only describe as an invisible poison, idly wondering, hoping that the others had defeated Wraith. _Only one way to find out._

"Hahaha..."

Reiha stood up, the noise rousing her unidentifiable until she saw the long black coat and white eye mask that she had associated with the enemy for so long.

Joker, leader of the Phantom Thieves, lay perched on the roof of the museum, staring down at her with the same ghoulish pallor and wicked grin as always. "We will take this country."

The words had always been the same as well, though the intonation was different. It sounded like an invitation to fight. _Yes,_ recognized quickly. _Yes, that's exactly what it is._

Joker had always been there, a permanent fixture of this city. Always with the same lines, always maddeningly elusive, and always escaping in the end. _Yes... he served his purpose very well, keeping me here, always thinking the next time would be the time I finally caught him to exact justice on him. Whenever I started doubting my purpose, really thinking about whether I wanted to stay here or not, there he was again, triggering me to go after him._

 _Well done... for a cognition._

And now here he was again, a cheshire smile plastered on a sickly greenish yellow face, looking eager for another chase. _To lure me away from the fight downstairs, keep me occupied with hatred instead of accepting due punishments for my crimes._

 _No more._

Feeling her energy return just as painfully as her sense of regret had, she gave Joker a mocking wave. "See ya."

She ran for the stairs, leaving a very confused-seeming Joker to remark: "That's... right?"

* * *

Mirambela felt a scowl of frustration color her lips with no time to erase it. While this opponent was nowhere in the league of Prince Taurus, that didn't stop it from offering up the kind of fight that Kaneshiro's previous lieutenants had given them, if not more.

Knowing its two main attack elements only went so far in overcoming it. While Noel's Persona resisted its bless skills and Julian's Persona resisted the blazing fire it was spreading so eagerly, this one was too smart a Shadow to let them take advantage of that fact more than once, directing the more harmful attack skills on the right targets, often focusing on Mira herself and even predicting where she was going to dodge. Noel's healing powers had kept them alive through it all, but this Shadow seemed even more resilient and stubborn than the thin scythe-user had been.

The resulting battle had lain waste to the dioramas and statues, occasionally tempting her to stop and simply soak in the awe-inspiring ruin around them. That would potentially be fatal though, particularly now that the enemy had moved on to a different tactic.

Clasping both of its hideous bone claws together, the robed Shadow produced a strange bracketed circle of garish yellow light, several small gaps running through it as it flew out towards Jiachi, who had been wildly blasting away with both barrels from behind the cover of a fallen statue of a Yakuza. Seeing it coming, he broke and ran, but too slow to evade as it completely surrounded him. He braced himself for a hit, but looked surprised, then satisfied when none came.

"Hah! Idiot!", he gave back a cocky smirk. "Let's give those gloomy robes a little color now! _Agilao_!"

It wasn't until the expected blast of fire failed to materialize that Mira remembered where she'd seen that circle from, her heart sinking along with Jiachi's smile, Wild Bill looking equally at a loss beside him. "It's a seal!", she warned him. "He's put a seal on your Persona's power so that you can't use it!"

Jiachi's eyes widened in horror and he nearly dropped his guns in shock. "What? No freakin' way! That's some cheap BS!"

"It'll wear off on its own after a while", she elaborated, firing off her own elemental skills to keep the enemy busy while their main attack recovered. "The problem is, we don't have time to wait!"

"No, we don't", Noel agreed, carefully rolling away from the Shadow's lunge to call upon Dellingr's radiance. "Fortunately, I believe we can fix that... _Mutudi!"_

A ray of light from his Persona projected a green circle similar to the seal onto Jiachi, revealing the orange one and shattering into pieces. Offering a grateful thumbs up, he immediately resumed blasting the enemy with fire.

Soaking it up with a resistance equal to its attacker, the wraith did not smile- the mask it wore showed no mouth, merely an empty black hole beneath the nose. Still, Mira sensed its relish at the next move it made, releasing another seal to cover Noel before he could run.

" _Schiesse_ ", he looked over at Mira with his mask concealing a worried expression, now completely helpless without Dellingr's power- he already knew that the skill he'd just used to clear Julian's malady wasn't shared by Mira's Persona. "I'm sorry, I can't heal you any more! You have to hurry and destroy this one before he seals up your Persona's powers as well!"

"Easy for you to say", Julian grunted, unleashing a powerful trio of gunshots that ripped into the enemy yet failed to inflict the critical damage they needed- underneath that cowl there seemed to be only more fluid darkness and emptiness. "Dancer, let's go for a duo while we still can!"

Nodding, Mira unleashed Oya's brute-force winds on the cloaked figure, Julian's fire mixing in with it and creating a violent sirocco that burned carpet and drapery alike, but merely scorched their target as it lunged out of the storm towards her at a clip that would have been impossible with actual legs.

His short-range reaction time was equally impressive, curving around when she skipped back from his initial swing to strike with the other claw, biting into her leg and leaving behind a hatefully familiar orange smear along it. "Disease too", she murmured, inwardly surprised at how calm she sounded as the malady began to sap away her attacking strength. Perhaps she'd finally seen enough of this sort of action to become as clinical about fighting Shadows as Aiko was sometimes? "I guess I should stick to healing after all."

"Leaving only one of us attacking him", Julian cursed, reloading both guns as he did so. "But if that's what I've gotta do, then bring it on! I've brought enough ammo to do this dance all day, cloak boy!"

True to his claim, he was able to unleash a piercing barrage of shots into the Shadow's tattered cloak, but that wasn't enough to stop it rushing at him, gliding across the floor like some sort of mad ghost until it was directly over top of him. "Foolish criminal", the Shadow's hollow voice spoke up for the first time since beginning its attack. "All that bravado, yet you lack a close range weap-"

The taunt cut off abruptly, as having the metal barrel of a revolver slammed into the Shadow's chest that hard had momentarily knocked all the wind out of it, glowing coal eyes stretched wide from the shock. "Sorry", Julian cackled, pulling the trigger to compound the damage further. "Were you saying something?"

"You-"

He surprised everyone then by following up with his other arm. It was too far away to reach the large Shadow's masked face, but the much taller Persona floating just behind him copied his move, slugging hard enough to knock it into a display case.

He caught Noel staring at him in awe, trying to restore the team's confidence with a carefree thumbs up. "Damn, that felt good."

"Well done", Mira acknowledged, just as amazed as Noel at the gall it took to simply throw a hay maker at such a powerful opponent; or the fact that it had actually worked. "Here."

The flowering _Rejesho_ skill covered him, mending the damage he'd taken earlier and capable of continuing to do that over the next few minutes. The enemy reared up out of the ruins of the case, his voice conveying the fury his face couldn't.

" _Enough!_ All intruders must be purged in the name of justice!"

"It grieves me to see just how badly that word has been misused", Noel remarked, frustrated by his helplessness bur unwilling to break his oath, particularly when it would accomplish nothing. "I should go find Saber, since I can't help you here."

"Saber'll find us when she's good and ready", Jiachi countered, preparing his twin weapons again. "Beside, this guy's not so tough as he seems. Glass jaw."

"You might regret saying that", Mira warned him, pointing. "I think you just made him mad."

The Shadow leapt forward with an inarticulate noise. The torch-bearing ring on its back had been mangled, but it still spun, faster than ever until it shone with the light of a bless skill. Accepting the challenge, Jiachi charged forward until he realized that the attack was already on him- another circle of golden light, a quartet of rectangular bits of parchment rising up from it in front of him until he understood what was being done. "... Damn it."

Then, just at had happened to Pelagio in his own Land, the power of the holy seal could actually be felt ripping away his life force, sending his body collapsing to the floor. " _Hama_ ", Noel observed in dismay. "He's not truly dead, not yet. If I could just..."

"Any sign of that seal going away?", Mira asked hopefully.

"None. All we can to now is try to survive." Which wouldn't be easy, she knew. With this enemy's speed, it could follow them anywhere they ran, and burn through doors that were too small for it to pass through.

A new arrival cut into her thoughts as the enemy gathered power for another magic seal, yet the Shadow actually stopped and stared at he recognized the black clad-figure leaping from the atrium balcony onto the smoked carpet. "You're returned. I trust you've dealt with the other criminal?"

The look on Reiha's face was no more expressive than her helmet had been- bleak and lifeless. "...Yes. The other one has been dealt with."

" **No!"**

Mira realized she'd made the strangled noise several seconds after hearing it, realized she was staring open-mouthed at the person they'd come here to save. Without the helmet, Reiha's pitch black hair hung back freely over the collar of Hex's spartan armor, shifting slightly as she turned away from the horrified expressions on the paralyzed pair's faces, striding over to the Shadow's side.

"I'm only sorry that I couldn't bring her in alive, to face the punishment for her crimes."

Wraith remained impassive as ever, the twin glowing embers that served it for eyes focused more on his targets than his partner. "It couldn't be helped. One who insults the concepts of justice so completely has earned their fate. Just as these ones have now."

" _Basha!_ You... you _traitor!_ ", Mira screamed, only held back from lunging at them by the combination of Noel's grip on her and the disease from earlier still sapping her strength, though not her voice box or tear ducts. "I can't believe you! Ai-chan did everything to help you see the truth about this world! And now... she's... she's...!"

Reiha looked back at her with an expression melancholy enough to make her stop struggling against Noel for a moment. "Yes. She sure did."

For a second time that day, the cloaked Shadow found itself subjected to a sudden, vicious punch. A third followed, ending with a kick that sent him flying off into a painting depicting Shibuya's infamous 'scramble'.

"And she succeeded", Reiha finished without a hint of triumph.

Mira was grateful for a diversion from the sheer confusion she was feeling then, seeing the yellow sealing circle that had blocked the power of Noel's Persona for what felt like hours snap back into visibility only to shatter into fragments. Reinvigorated, Noel ran over to Julian's fallen body, calling back Dellingr's light to revive him.

"Oh...", he managed to pant as the life returned to his eyes. "Oh hey, it's Hayato. Does that mean...?"

"Yes", Mira nodded, wishing she felt happier at the fulfillment of their goal. "She just pummeled that Shadow, so I think she's come to her senses. But, Ai-chan, she..."

"What about me now?"

The voice's honest curiosity snapped her head back up to see their leader striding back into the ruined gallery without a hint of injury, merely amusement. "Oh, and it's _Saber_ , remember."

"Hmph." Walking in just behind her, Pelagio snorted. "Really now, how many times must we remind them of the need to use code names?"

Even as Noel dutifully cured Mira's disease as well, Aiko realized that she might actually be too shocked to fight effectively, and gave a confident smile. "Sorry about that, Dancer. Things went a bit further than we'd hoped, but everything turned out all right in the end. That's why Guardian couldn't help you here, see. He had to be in position to save me when I fell."

"After distracting the weak Shadows seeking to ambush you here", their bird-knight protector added. "They were aggravatingly persistent."

Seeing her still sputtering, Jiachi stood up and chuckled, shrugging. "Looks like you really surprised her there, eh captain? She should've known better- you're not that easy to get rid of. But I always knew you wouldn't let us down."

"Hmph. I believe we can discuss this later", Pelagio reminded him, taking up a front line position with Aiko to defend their exhausted teammates. "Firstly, this Shadow must be dealt with."

Nearly as surprisingly to her as Aiko's miraculous survival was the revelation that despite the hectic battle it had put up against them for so long, finishing off the black-cowled wraith didn't take much at all. It tried of course. Being outmatched six against one didn't stop it from dealing out the magic seals and blasts of fire and blessed light to any it saw, but sealing Reiha did nothing to stop her fists and feet tearing into the cloak, and the sole attempt it could spare to seal their main healer's power was blocked by Pelagio willingly accepting the temporary loss of Galahad.

"Why", it muttered once it sensed defeat was imminent. "Why do you betray...?"

Reiha didn't smile; even the realization of Aiko's survival hadn't shaken her gloom. "There's no betrayal. I'm the ruler of this Land. And what I say is justice... is justice. And justice is dead."

One final uppercut knocked him reeling, and then the lightning from Mira and the ice from Aiko slammed into him, simultaneously freezing and electrocuting it until the mask frosted over and shattered. The cloak fell empty, leaving nothing behind on the floor but spoiled rags.

They all stood silently for a moment, Reiha with her back turned to them, no one completely sure how to approach her after all that had happened. "Nobility", Aiko piped up at last, putting a gloved hand on her shoulder and shutting down any lingering fear that Reiha might wheel around and punch her. "After what happened six years ago, you thought that you had no future. That you were doomed. Condemned. Worthless. So you decided to sacrifice yourself to help other people. Right?"

Turning, Reiha revealed a confused frown. "Y-yeah... Kinda. Really, I just wanted a way to vent. I tried a lot of stuff to make the pain go away, but... How'd you know?"

"Because", their leader explained, quiet and calm and careful not to catch the eyes of the others as she spoke, "I've felt the same way too, sometimes. A worthless life, that I can still spend on something worthwhile."

Before the resulting silence became too strong to break, Noel stepped forward past a patch of burned carpeting. "I believe you have it backwards, Saber. Rather, it's pursuing the goals we believe have value that grant a life its worth."

Nodding, Mira brushed her tears away and smiled. "We all noticed. We're not stupid. The way you that kept on throwing yourself into harm's way to protect us, both in this world and the other one... it was like you didn't even care if you died."

"Whatevs", Jiachi waved as if trying to chase away gnats. "We all feel that way sometimes, yeah? Like there's people and things in this world you want to protect, even if you gotta face some pain to do it."

Large orb eyes watching them all as they gathered, Pelagio blinked in amusement, steel-clad arms folded. "Hmph. As though any of you have reason to act in such a way. You're all still young. From what I understand, it's improper for humans your age to think in such a way."

"Maybe", Aiko agreed with a wistful chuckle. "But if you were expecting us to be 'proper', you must've had your eyes closed for the last two months."

Reiha seemed to realize then that the Voyagers' talk wasn't only an attempt to ease her out of her gloom, but something they needed as well to defuse their tension, and emitted a happy sigh. "Looks like you managed to find some other friends after all, huh? Even got one who isn't even human by the looks of it."

Raptor eyes swiveled to face their former enemy, still intimidating even for those who knew him, his tone carefully polite. "Will that be a problem, miss Hayato?"

Smiling felt strange. Like she'd nearly forgotten how. "Not at all. I mean, less than an hour ago I considered this guy", she pointed to indicate the remains of the cloaked Shadow, "to be my friend."

Surprised, Aiko stared at the pile of ruined rags that had once been a living being, face falling. "...I'm sorry. We didn't know."

"It's fine", Reiha waved her worries away, the hardness and regret returning to her pale features. "He didn't feel the same way, obviously. I know now; all the Shadows here are just servants of the big fish... The one I brought in here with me."

She sounded like she was about to elaborate when an impossibly loud crashing noise drew their eyes up to sight of main skylight exploding even as their ears went on strike, the resulting rain of glass shards camouflaging the source of the destruction until the series of winding black cables had blasted through the gap and slammed into the carpet all around them.

"Zeppelin!", Pelagio screeched, drawing his blade and shield. "Shadows incoming!"

Sure enough, the shattering was followed by the sight of armless figures mummified in black descending on the cables, twitching randomly as they had during the Voyagers' first visit to Shirubashiti. The freakish movements only intensified when they struck the ground, writhing madly until they burst apart like fresh produce to reveal the Land's familiar gruesome Shadow protectors.

"Speak of the devil, and she'll drop her minions on you", Noel snarled, recalling Dellingr to stun the enemy with light beams before they could strike, recognizing right away that the rest of the Voyagers needed time to recover and form a proper front line. They'd only begun to manage that when the second set of cables fell down, disrupting any attempt at organizing.

The rest of them seemed to recognize that as well, instead focusing on using their Personas to clear away the Shadows immediately closest to them. Sphere-shaped nuclear flares from Galahad sent the scarred monstrosities reeling away and Oya's hurricane winds cast several airborne, while Wild Bill's fire immolated the heavier ones and Lorelei's trickery sealed the strongest of the mob before they could use their own abilities.

In thirty seconds, the confusing melee brought down half of the invading Shadows. That was also how long it took for them to notice that the cables were now snaking their way back up through the roof, into the belly hatch of the giant dirigible that had released them...

With a precious cargo in tow.

"Reiha!", Aiko shouted to be heard over the noise of battle and wounded Shadows. "Grab on! Quick!"

Realizing what was happening- what the real goal of this attack had been- the others immediately reached for the cable nearest to them, all of which had begun to quickly rise up in response. Looking down from the one she'd caught, Aiko gasped for a moment seeing that Mira's target had escaped her and was now in danger of leaving her down there all alone, surrounded by the surviving Shadows, but then she was engulfed in a locus of frenzied green before being blasted forcefully upwards, shooting past the others so that she could catch onto an empty cable in time.

A quick look around confirmed everyone else had made it safely. The only ones left were the Shadows they'd failed to destroy, who seemed at a loss now that there was no one left to attack. Before the Voyagers had managed to clear the roof, Aiko saw one of the headless knights turn on a hideous eyeless goblin, sparking a chaotic free for all with no sides or goals.

Fascinated at the sight, Julian forced himself to look up instead, observing the way the cables that had grabbed Reiha were much faster to reel in until she had disappeared. "Huh. Guess that's one way to make sure the dream doesn't end."

"By kidnapping the dreamer", Mira remarked sourly, beginning to climb up the cable towards the zeppelin before nearly falling off deciding to focus more on keeping her handhold.

"She's getting desperate", Pelagio observed quietly, carefully clinging to his cable as they rose up through the roof and into another gorgeous aerial view of the city which Reiha had named Shirubashiti. "She knows that Hayato has come to her senses. The only choice left is to keep her hostage in a place we cannot reach."

"I... think I... understand", Noel considered, looking increasingly desperate not to look down until he had no choice but to close his eyes tight and hang on. "When Hayato leaves this... place of her own will... the Shadow will... disappear."

"Are you scared of heights, Mender?", Aiko noted sympathetically across from him. "I'm sorry, this wasn't in the plan. I didn't think she'd be so up front about not letting Hayato leave. I thought she'd just ambush us at the harbor."

"Like the previous two did", Pelagio acknowledged, eyes locking into their leader's. "Captain. I'm certain you must realize that while the Shadow may not expect us following after Hayato in this way, we _are_ still being brought into an area where the enemy holds an advantage. My transformation will be useless up there. And in this world, I cannot even fly."

"Neither can she", Aiko responded, her mind already racing to try and predict what Reiha's Shadow might try once she realized she had five unwanted passengers. It was no good. Her main experience with that tightly-dressed Shadow so far had been experiencing her skills as a torturer, both physical and mental.

Whatever threat was waiting for them inside the massive flying ship, they would meet it blind.

"Don't worry", she promised her team as the true size of it became apparent the closer they got- nearly twice the size of the normal zeppelins they'd seen so far, likely held in reserve until this critical moment. "We all knew that this was coming. There's no way shed let us leave without a fight. That cloaked Shadow was just the warm up. It's finally time... Time for the main course."

* * *

Enemy Profile #15: Throne

Arcana: Justice

Strength: Fire, Bless

Weakness: Physical, Curse

Ability: Agilao, Kouga, Hama, Sealing Circle, Virus Claw, Recarm

Background: Third of the nine classes of angels, they are angels of knowledge. Also known as the Erelim or Ophanim, they are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul of Tarsus in Colossians and related to the throne of God, living symbols of God's justice and authority. Despite their greatness, they are intensely humble, an attribute that allows them to dispense justice with perfect objectivity and without fear of pride or ambition.

* * *

A/N: Happy Remembrance Day all. It's certainly one I'll always remember.

So it's still up in the air if I'll be able to finish this 'arc' before the end of the year, but I do promise at least one more chapter before having to stop for a bit to deal with my 'Christmas responsibilities'. Thanks to all my reviewers- you are my motivation.

Kabuto S. Inferno: Thanks plenty! To answer your question, I've played most of the more (in)famous titles in the series after SMT IV got me hooked. My repertoire, in no particular order, is as follows:

Persona 4, Persona 5 (duh), Persona Q2, SMT IV: Apocalypse, SMT IV, Nocturne, Devil Survivor 1 & 2 (the 3DS remakes), Strange Journey Redux, Soul Hackers.

I can definitely see why many still consider Nocturne to be the best of the main series due to its unrelenting darkness and difficulty (and Dante), though here's hoping SMT V can give it a good run for that title whenever it finally comes out without carrying over some of the more obnoxious things from Nocturne like the random encounter rate or the 'if the leader dies you lose' rule. That's actually why I introduced the idea of the '1st Mate' mechanic in this ga- er, story.

Funnily enough, one of my original inspirations to write this story was this theoretical video outline for a Persona 6 by Crosspawgames: watch?v=5Wm4SpWToaU

In particular, my visual concept of Aiko Tsuruga would be nearly the same as the pale-haired female protagonist shown at 4:33 (although that checkered shirt looks weird and I'd want her to look just a bit older since she's supposed to be 16), but I think we can all agree the rest that I've written is vastly different enough that I shouldn't have to worry about any accusations of plagiarism. No Madarame here.


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